The Boy and Mr Barrow
by i-live-for-television
Summary: Downton Abbey hires a handsome new Gamekeeper. Who interests Thomas in more ways than one, but Thomas struggles to believe this new boy could ever be interested in him after the incident with Jimmy Kent, But will the actions of the new gamekeeper towards Thomas finally show him that he is capable of being happy.
1. Chapter 1

**Title- The Boy and Mr Barrow **

**By alternativebrooke**

**This is a post Downton Abbey 3x08 (but pre Christmas Special 2012) slight crossover with the movie: Maurice. I'm using one of the characters from Maurice as a love interest for Thomas mostly because I adore Rupert Graves portrayal of Alec Scudder in Maurice and I love Thomas Barrow more than life and thought it would be ridiculously cute if Thomas Barrow and Alec Scudder met. But if you haven't seen Maurice it doesn't really matter because the story will still make perfect sense, but you should watch it because it's amazing! :) **

**WARNING: potential M/M and Downton Abbey season 1-3 spoilers.**

**This is my first fic so please be nice. I also apologise for any spelling and grammar errors. :)**

**It has been 3 months since Thomas Barrow made the regretful decision to kiss Jimmy in his sleep, it was a mistake that almost cost him his job and a mistake that did cost him any hope of a friendship between he and Jimmy and for that matter he and Alfred. but when a new game keeper is hired at Downton will things finally change for Thomas?**

**CHAPTER 1**

Thomas sat at the far end of the servants dining table reading the morning paper, Jimmy and Alfred were on the opposite end making sure they were as far away from Thomas as possible. It had been 3 months since the night Thomas mistook Jimmy's kindness for love and kissed him in his room. Although Thomas regretted the decision he still had feelings for Jimmy, after all Jimmy was the first boy to show Thomas any interest for many years, more years then Thomas dare to remember.

Lost in his thoughts Thomas looked to Jimmy with a smile.

"What are you lookin' at Barrow?!" Jimmy snarled as he got up and left the room, Alfred followed him out shortly after also shooting Thomas disgusted looks.

"What is his problem?" questioned Daisy who had absolutely no idea what had occurred that night 3 months ago.

"Nothing Daisy, mind your business" muttered Thomas as he suddenly got an intense craving for a smoke, he got up and left the dining table to go outside for his hourly dose of tobacco. It seemed he couldn't light his smoke fast enough, hands shaking he finally lit one up and drew in a long breath of his cigarette. He had forgotten again. how could he be so stupid to look at Jimmy like that? Jimmy hates him and wants nothing to do with him.  
'why do I keep forgetting?' Thomas thought to himself as he drew in an even longer breath of his cigarette. Thomas stood alone outside in the same place where he and Ms O'Brian once used to stand together and complain about their work, Thomas felt a sick to his stomach,  
' Does everyone hate me here?' Thomas thought as he realised he was alone and probably would be for the rest of his life. He threw the butt of his cigarette to the ground as the gong rang out, it was time to serve the family their lunch.

Thomas stood in the dining room with Carson and watched the footman serve the family their meals making sure they made no mistakes.  
"So Carson, when will the new games keeper be arriving?" asked Lord Grantham excitedly as he had taken up the sport of hunting and could not wait to start hunting on his own reservation

"He should be arriving this shortly after lunch my lord" replied Carson

"Very good Carson, do introduce me when he arrives will you" said Lord Grantham with a large grin on his face.

"Yes my lord" replied Carson.

Once Lunch was complete Thomas went back outside for another smoke, he breathed in his cigarette savouring the taste and then blew the smoke back out again, just then he heard the sound of a car pulling up at the front of the Abbey about 25 metres from where he was standing at the side of the Abbey he looked up at the car and watched as the car door opened and stepped out was a young man who couldn't be older than 23. He was wearing a long off colour grey/green coat with a tweed vest and shirt underneath also hunting pants and leather boots, he was holding his hat in one hand and with his free hand he pushed his dark brown curly hair back off his face which gave Thomas the opportunity to see the boys face for the first time he had small features, brown eyes a nice shaped nose and small but full lips and an overall tanned complexion his youthful beauty came to a surprise to Thomas, he hadn't seen a boy this beautiful since Jimmy.

The young man looked at the Abbey in awe as if he had never seen a building so big. Thomas watched the young man in fascination, he looked so innocent like a child. Suddenly Thomas found himself staring into the eyes of the young man who looked around to see Thomas standing there, the boy stared into Thomas's light blue eyes without looking away for what felt like years, both of them had a fascinated expression on their face after what felt like forever the boy broke eye contact to study the rest of Thomas.

The boy studied Thomas, his eyes moving slowly up the body of the dark handsome man stopping at his face, he watched as the man took a drag of his cigarette with such skill that caused the boy believe he must have been doing it for many years, he watched as the handsome dark haired man blew the smoke in his direction. the boy suddenly realised he was staring and blushed uncontrollably, the boy embarrassed started walking at a quick pace to the door of the Abbey and knocked, the door was opened by Alfred

"Who are you then?" asked Alfred curiously, "Uhm I'm Alec, Alec Scudder that is sir um I'm the new gamekeeper, it's my first day today" replied Alec nervously

"Right then, come in I think Carson is expecting you" replied Alfred in a monotone voice and allowed the boy room to enter.

Alec started walking in but not without looking back to see if the handsome dark haired man was still standing at the side of the Abbey, upon looking back he was disappointed when he realised the dark haired man was no longer standing there, he turned back to look at Alfred as he entered the Abbey and the door was shut behind him.

At the side of the Abbey Thomas was leaning against the wall with a confused look on his face as if he could not believe what had just happened.  
'Did that boy just blush?' 'Why did he blush when he looked at me' Thomas thought to himself, Suddenly Thomas gasped  
. 'Did he blush because he liked what he saw?' Thomas thought as his heartbeat started racing and he started smiling, which he swore he hadn't done in months.

But in that moment he remembered how wrong he had been about Jimmy and the smile faded back to a grim frown,  
'No he couldn't of liked what he saw, how could he?' and with that Thomas threw the tiny amount of cigarette he had left to the ground and went back inside.

**Authors Note: Sorry if that chapter was not the most eventful but I promise it will get much more eventful in the following chapters :D**

**I'd love for you guys to leave any reviews to let me know if you like it or not or if I've done something wrong, which knowing me I probably have haha, you can also follow me on tumblr if you want just search alternativebrooke**

**THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR READING :) x **


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: The Boy and Mr Barrow**

**By alternativebrooke**

**Under Butler Thomas Barrow and Alec Scudder the new Gamekeeper have just laid eyes on each other for the first time, what will happen in their first conversation.**

**CHAPTER 2**

Thomas went straight to the servants dining room where he made a cup of tea and took a seat at the end of the table, he couldn't help it but he started thinking about the boy again, he thought about what he wore, the way he pushed his hair back and the way he blushed.. although his thoughts were cut short with the always loud noises of everyone standing to their feet upon Carson entering the dining room

"Now everybody! we have a new co worker as of today, his name is 'Alec Scudder' and he is the new Gamekeeper here" boomed Carson

Thomas looked up to find Alec's kind brown eyes already on him but the boy looked away as soon as Carson starting speaking again.

"I expect you all to treat him with kindness and make him feel welcome" and with that Carson told Alec to take a seat while he warned Mrs Patmore that there's another mouth to feed tonight.

Alec looked around the room nervously and eyed the 3 free seats around the table; one of the seats being next to Alfred, one next to Ivy and one next to Thomas. he scratched his head and looked at Ivy who seemed very excited that Alec had caught her eye, a little too excited he thought, he then looked at Alfred who had an emotionless look on his face, he also looked at the boy next to Alfred he was a young blonde boy although he seemed to have a permanent frown on his face 'which was a shame because he had such a lovely face' he thought he then looked to the last free seat and the man who sat next to it.

he gazed at the man whose face was one of the most beautiful faces he'd ever seen but also the saddest the man had piercing blue eyes, perfectly placed cheekbones, porcelain skin, pouty lips and jet black hair that was slicked back so neatly that there was not one hair out of place 'I wonder what his hair would look like if it wasn't so neat' Alec thought but stopped himself immediately as he feared of the thoughts that may follow. But there was something about this man that made Alec start to walk over to the free seat near Thomas, he made his way over slowly trying his hardest not to stare at Thomas the whole time once he got to the seat he pulled it out and sat down. he looked up to see everyone looking at him, Ivy was frowning like an angry toddler who just lost a toy, Alfred had a surprised look on his face but the blonde boys expression was the one that worried him the most he was scowling... Alec's thoughts were interrupted by the voice of the handsome man beside him  
"Hello" Thomas said smoothly his icey blue eyes fixed on Alecs face.

"I'm Thomas Barrow, the under butler" . Alec could not believe the smoothness of his voice and the delicious sound of his raw British accent

"Hello Thomas" Alec said in his muddled accent that was a mix of British and European, Thomas returned his greeting with a smile as Mrs Patmore started bringing in the food for the servants to eat Thomas and Alec ate comfortably in silence but continually snuck in quick glances at eachother when the other wasn't looking when Alec was satisfied he pushed his bowl out infront of him and then watched as Thomas did the same thing

"So Alec, do you smoke? because I'm just about to head outside for one" said Thomas.

"Um no I don't" replied Alec noticing the disappointment in Thomas' eyes upon his got up and started walking to the door.

"But if you would like some company outside I'd be glad to join you" Alec said quickly and jumped up from his seat to stand next to Thomas, Thomas just smiled and started walking with Alec to the side door.

"So why did you choose to come here Alec?" Thomas asked

"Well I was employed just outside of London in a house a lot smaller than this one until it went broke, So I had to find another job and when I saw Downton had a place I applied straight away" replied Alec

"Well I'm sure you'll be very happy here, it's a great place to work" replied Thomas looking into the distance with a slight smile on his face  
"So how long have you been working here Mr Barrow?" asked Alec, Thomas laughed

"Far too long, it'd have to around 10 years now and you can call me Thomas" answered Thomas playfully while Alec smiled.

"Okay Thomas then, did you work here during the war too?" Alec questioned curiously, "No I was a medic during the war.. well that was until.." Thomas trailed off and looked down at his hand guilty, Alec noticed the glove Thomas wore on his hand and noticed there was not a glove on his other hand.

"Did something happen to your hand Thomas?" asked Alec sympathetically.

"Well It was shot, the bullet went right through too" said Thomas solemnly.

"Can I see it" Alec asked with wide eyes.

"Uhmm I don't know, it may scare you off, it's not a pretty sight" replied Thomas.

"Don't be silly" Alec said as he walked closer and closer to Thomas until he was a barely a few inches from him  
"Show me" Alec said looking deep into Thomas' eyes

"I'm sure I've seen worse, trust me" and with that Alec placed a hand lightly on Thomas' wounded one and used his other hand to slowly work the glove off, doing all of this while never breaking eye contact with Thomas, They stared into each other's eyes until Alec had removed the glove completely Alec then proceeded to look down at Thomas' disfigured hand and started touching it with both of his hands tenderly while inspecting the damage, Alec traced his index finger across the bullet wound and felt Thomas shiver, he looked back up to Thomas' face

"It's not that bad really" replied Alec kindly.

"So I haven't frightened you off then?" asked Thomas nervously.

"It's a wound received while fighting for your Country, you should never feel embarrassed about that Thomas, you're braver than I have ever been" Alec said compassionately ... just then the gong rang out and Alec let go of Thomas' hand.

"I suppose that means we have work to do?" asked Alec.

"Um yes we should probably be going inside" said Thomas as they both walked inside together.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: The Boy and Mr Barrow**

**By: alternativebrooke**

**Warning: Downton Abbey season 1-3 spoiler and potential M/M**

**CHAPTER 3**

"Oh, Thomas you won't need to observe the dinner tonight, I'm going to need you to show Alec around the place" said Carson.

"Yes Mr Carson" replied Thomas promptly.

"You may as well start with his bedroom so he's able to get properly unpacked before he starts with his work tomorrow" said Carson.

"Of course Mr Carson, and which room would be his?" asked Thomas.

"Well about that, seeing as Games keeing is a new position here and there are no separate quarters for game keepers as of yet he will be staying in the servants quarters for now, the room at the end of the hall to be exact" replied Carson whose voice rose every time he mentioned a change in the tradition.  
"That's also why he will be eating in the servants hall with the rest of us for now, until separate quarters are sorted out" said Carson and with that he left Thomas and Alec alone.

"So where are your bags then Alec?" said Thomas who still had a slight smirk on his face after finding out that he and Alec will be staying in the same quarters.

"Oh, the Chauffeur took them, he said they would be in the room with the dark tiled floors, although I have no idea where that is" said Alec who was obviously confused.

"I think he means the day room at the end of the hallway, come on I'll show you" replied Thomas with a small smile as he started to walk towards the hallway motioning Alec to follow behind him.

Thomas and Alec walked together in a comfortable silence until they reached the large seemingly empty room with the dark tiled floors.  
"My bag's over there" said Alec as he and Thomas both walked in the same direction,Thomas looked down at the one small bag.

"Are these all of your things?" questioned Thomas who was obviously concerned.

"Yes, I've never really had much stuff of my own, most of it was borrowed from my last employers, which I had to return" replied Alex in a soft and almost embarrassed voice.

"I see" is all Thomas could say. They both reached down at the same time to pick up the bag, Thomas' fingertips grazed over the back of Alec's hand causing him to blush and look up at Thomas who looked back down at him, Thomas noticed Alec had an small smile on his reddened face to which Thomas smirked back at as he moved his hand away from the bag and straightened his posture.

"Take your bag and we'll head up to your room" said Thomas as he walked over to the door, Alec followed behind him quickly with his one bag in his hand, they made their way to Alec's room and Thomas unlocked it with the key Carson gave him.

"I've never seem a room this nice before" said Alec while putting his bag down his eyes wandering around the room in awe.

"Really?, I always thought it was pretty average myself" said Thomas.

"Nonsense, look the walls are painted all neat and I even get my own window" Alec said while walking over to the window to check out the view, Alec placed his hands on the glass while looking out at the lawns and gardens of the Abbey in fascination.

"Come and look at this Thomas" Alec said eyes still staring outside. Thomas walked over to the window and stood half a metre from Alec's side although the window was quite small and from the position he was standing in he couldn't see much.

"Thomas you won't be able to see from there come here" said Alec as he grabbed a hold of Thomas' arm with his own and pulled him closer until the whole sides of their bodies were touching.

"Isn't this view amazing Thomas?" asked Alec turning his face towards Thomas' their faces were only centimetres apart now, Thomas could feel Alec's breath on his face, his eyes flickered to Alec's lips.

"Yes, the view is amazing" whispered Thomas as he watched Alec's cheeks start to flush and a small smile tug at his lips, Alec moved his hand closer and closer to Thomas' damaged one until he touched it lightly with his fingers, at first Thomas was surprised and didn't respond until he looked at the reassuring smile on Alec's face and then interlocked Alec's fingers with his own, Thomas felt the warmth of Alec's hand coming through the glove on his mangled hand, It was the warmest Thomas had felt in years. With their hands interlocked Thomas and Alec turned until were facing each other Alec moved his free hand slowly until it was around Thomas' waist and took his other hand from Thomas' then gently placed it around the other side of Thomas' waist he looked into his eyes and started pulling Thomas closer until they were pressed against one another.

They looked at each other again but this time was different, it wasn't filled with surprise or fascination, this time it was filled with lust, Thomas placed one of his hands to the side of Alec's face, Alec's gaze flickered between Thomas' eyes and lips as Thomas slowly moved his face closer and closer to Alec's, his other hand now placed onto the opposite side of Alec's face their lips were now millimetres away

"THOMAS?!" shouted Carson from the other end of the hallway, Thomas pushed himself away from Alec and moved over to the door, a few seconds later Carson rushed into Alec's room.  
"YOU'RE NEEDED IN THE DINING HALL NOW ALFRED HAS FALLEN ILL AND WE NEED A SECOND FOOTMAN!" boomed Carson who was out of breath from making his way quickly up the stairs.  
"YOU'RE GOING TO NEED TO CHANGE IMMEDIATLY, NOW GO!" shouted Carson as Thomas left the room quickly to change his clothes.  
"Sorry for cutting your tour short Alec, but this is a matter of urgency, unpack your things quickly I'm going to need you to be in the dining hall in 15 minutes, Lord Grantham wants to meet his new Games keeper" said Carson who made his way out of the room quickly to get back to the dining hall.

Alec was left alone in his room, he exhaled sharply as he made his way to the seat in the corner of the room and sat down  
'This proves it, he must actually want me' Alec thought as he let out a small laugh, it was hard for him to believe a man could ever actually want him the way he wants them, especially a man with Thomas' looks or career status, Alec smiled to himself, he thought of the way Thomas looked at him and the way that Thomas cupped Alec's face in his hands which caused his already wide smile to widen even more, Alec walked over to his bag and started unpacking his things although it didn't take him very long because he had very few things to unpack he was finished barely 10 minutes after he started, he looked at the clock on his table and headed downstairs to wait outside the dining hall door.

A few minutes later Carson opened the door and told him to come in, Alec noticed the remainder of the dinner was being cleared away by the blonde footman and Thomas whose eyes flickered to Alec on his way out of the room.

"Your Lordship this is Alec Scudder, he's the new Games keeper" Carson said formally.

"Hello there Alec, it's nice to finally meet you. I hope you like Downton so far" said Lord Grantham politely.

"It's a very beautiful house my lord and I'm very glad to be working here" replied Alec with a kind smile on his face.

"Well that's good to hear Alec, I expect that we'll speak again soon" said Lord Grantham Alec gave Lord Grantham and the rest of the family a warm smile and turned to leave the dining hall.

He decided to head to the servants hall to wait for dinner, upon his arrival he noticed that nearly all the staff were sitting down and talking amongst each other eagerly awaiting dinner after a hard day at work, Alec looked around the table for a spare seat although the first place he looked there seemed to be two seats empty, Thomas wasn't sitting in the seat he was sitting in yesterday instead he was leaning against the wall. Thomas looked at Alec and started walking over to the door that leads outside he motioned his head towards the door suggesting Alec to follow him he then opened the door and left with Alec following a few metres behind him.

**Authors note: ****Hey guys! thank you all so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Also I apologise for any spelling, punctuation and grammar mistakes I've made, I have never been very good with this sort of thing but I am trying my hardest :)**

**Please leave reviews if you can to let me know if you like it or not or if there's something that I did wrong.**

**Thank you all again. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: The Boy and Mr Barrow**

**by: alternativebrooke**

**Warning: potential Downton Abbey series 1-3 spoilers and M/M**

**CHAPTER 4**

It was a freezing cold night at Downton, Thomas made his way outside and leant against the nearest wall lighting up a cigarette as he went, he inhaled the smoke deeply and exhaled when Alec walked through the door, blowing the smoke in Alec's direction. Thomas watched as Alec moved closer to him, stopping about half a metre away.

"I hope Carson didn't work you too hard during dinner" said Alec who gave Thomas a small and somewhat nervous smile.

"I can never be worked too hard Alec" replied Thomas

Alec felt his cheeks redden with the way Thomas spoke without even the smallest break in his serious expression, Thomas noticed Alec blush which is exactly the reaction he had hoped for.

"What do you think of me, Alec?" questioned Thomas whose piercing blue eyes were now boring into Alec's

"What do you mean?" replied Alec unsure of how to word his response properly.

"I mean..." Thomas sighed as he struggled to find the right words to say " When you first saw me outside of Downton, what did you think of me?".

"Well... I.. wondered who you were and I... I thought" muttered Alec while running his hand nervously through his thick brown hair.

"You thought what?" asked Thomas who dropped his cigarette to the ground and moved closer to Alec stopping only when they were a few inches apart.

"I thought you were incredible" replied Alec who now looked upon Thomas' face which was now very close to his own and saw the most vulnerable expression he had ever seen on a grown man, an expression that he could have never believed was Thomas'.

"I thought.. How can a man with a face this perfectly structured even exist" Alec said running his finger across Thomas' jaw and cheek noticing Thomas' breath hitch when Alec ran his thumb across Thomas' lips.

Alec slowly wrapped both of his arms around Thomas' neck and tilted his face forward. He could feel Thomas' hot breath on his lips.

"And finally I thought.. What would it be like to kiss a man who looked like this?" whispered Alec as he closed the remainder of the gap between he and Thomas' face until their lips met.

Thomas and Alec's lips fitted together perfectly the kiss at first was slow and gentle until they found a rhythm that suited them both, Thomas wrapped his arms around Alec's waist and pulled them even closer together as Alec further parted his lips to deepen the kiss, Thomas responded by parting his as well. Alec moved his hands back onto either side of Thomas' face as their lips continued to move together, The kiss was wet, passionate and perfect. Thomas was the first to pull away, resting his forehead on Alec's as they breathed together, Alec gently pushed Thomas' face back with his hands so he could look at him. Thomas' face was flushed and had a grin on it that Alec hadn't seen before.

"And I thought you looked beautiful the first time I saw you" said Alec smiling "But I don't think anything could compare with how you look right now".

Thomas just stood there arms still around Alec's waist He could hardly believe what he was hearing, and for the first time in a long time he was speechless.

Thomas and Alec could hear footsteps coming from inside nearing the door. "MR BARROW?" Alfred yelled from inside, They hurried to let go of each other as Alfred burst through the door.

"Mr Barrow, you and Alec are suppose to be inside for dinner, Carson had to send me out to find you!" said Alfred impatiently.

"Calm the bloody hell down Alfred, we'll be in soon" said Thomas whose expression was back to serious and professional.

"You'd want to be! before Carson has all of our heads!" said Alfred looking Alec up and down before storming back inside.

"We should really be heading inside, I haven't known him very long but Mr Carson seems like the type you don't want to make angry" said Alec who was now standing half a metre from Thomas again.

"Yes, we should" said Thomas as he walked over to the door to open it for Alec.

Alec went through the door and waited on the other side for Thomas. They walked together with every step they took the noises of the dining room became louder and closer. Upon entering the dining room Thomas went to take his usual seat at the end of the table, Alec was following his lead only to realise there was no empty seat available next to Thomas, instead the seat was taken by Ivy who smiled politely at him. Alec stared around the dining table for a free seat, the only available one being on the other side of the table next to the Blonde footman who was chatting to Alfred. Alec made his way to the other side of the table looking back at Thomas unhappily as he went, he sat down quietly trying not to disturb the blonde footman and Alfred's conversation.

"So you're the new Games keeper then?" asked the blonde footman who was now looking directly at Alec.

"Uh yes my name's Alec Scudder" Alec replied nervously.

"I know your name, Alfred's told me about you" said the blonde footman who was now smiling, which was a sight Alec had not seen on the footman's face since arriving here. "I'm Jimmy Kent, first footman here, and you've already met Alfred he's the second footman" Jimmy said pointing to Alfred whose eye twitched when he heard the words 'second footman'.

"Nice to meet you Jimmy" Alec said holding out his hand, Jimmy looked slightly surprised as he shook it.

They both focused their attention back to their meals, Alec moved his bowl closer to himself and began eating his stew it was tasty, Downton had some of the best food he had eaten in his life. His eyes drifted along the table at all the staff, Carson was in the middle of the table talking away with one of the hall boys, Jimmy and Alfred were both eating their meals and Ivy was chatting to Daisy.

Alec then looked to the end of the table at Thomas who was drinking tea and seemed to be staring off into space, Alec watched Thomas move the teacup to his lips and take a sip without moving his eyes, he watched the Adams apple in Thomas' throat bob up and down with every swallow of his tea, Thomas' face was no longer flushed like before, his skin was again a beautiful porcelain colour, his hair was more tousled than the first time he saw it, it was no longer perfectly slicked back but instead there were a few pieces of raven hair on his face some pieces lying close to his ice blue eyes. he is definitely one of the most if not the most beautiful man Alec had ever seen.

Thomas shifted his gaze to meet Alec's a small smile tugging on the corners of his mouth when he noticed Alec was already looking in his direction.

"Ok everyone as soon as you finish with your meals head upstairs to bed, most of us have an early morning tomorrow Lord Matthew and Lady Mary wish to head into town quite early and I expect them to be properly prepared before the morning train". Said Carson loudly as usual.

Most of the staff stood after what Carson had said, some began clearing their plates away, saying goodnight to each other and heading upstairs. Alec followed everyone else's actions by also standing and clearing his plate from the table. He looked up to see Carson and Thomas talking to each other on the other side of the room.

"Do you know where you are staying, Alec?" asked Jimmy who was now standing right next to Alec.

"Yes, I'm staying upstairs in the servants quarters" replied Alec

"Good you can walk up with me then" said Jimmy who began making his way out of the dining hall.

Alec followed Jimmy outside but not before looking back at Thomas again on his way out, but upon seeing his face he became unsettled. For the first time Thomas looked worried.

Alec and Jimmy walked alongside each other upstairs and into the servants quarters.

"You'll like it here Alec, Downton's a good place to work" said Jimmy smiling again.

"Yes, I've only heard good things from the other members of the staff" Alec said smiling back.

"By other staff member, I assume you mean Mr Barrow?" asked Jimmy whose lip twitched when he mentioned Thomas' name.

"Well.. yes, I haven't had much of a chance to speak to everyone else yet" replied Alec.

"Hmm.. well I'm off to bed anyway I'll see you tomorrow at breakfast, feel free to sit by Alfred and I again" said Jimmy who gave Alec one final smile before heading into his bedroom.

Alec watched Jimmy enter his room '_why did he flinch when he mentioned Thomas' name' _he thought to himself as he walked to the end of the hall and opened the door to his bedroom.

"Alec" Thomas softly called from the other end of the hall as he made his way over to Alec's side.

"Carson's just told me I'm to head into town with Lord Matthew and Lady Mary tomorrow morning, Lady Mary wants to pick out a new clock for her bedroom, so Carson making me go with them seeing as I'm the only one that knows anything about clocks around here, which means we'll probably not see much of each other until the late afternoon said Thomas who seemed kind of sullen with the fact. "Are you going to be okay with finding your way around tomorrow without me? asked Thomas curiously.

"I should be okay, I'm sure some of the other staff will help me find my way around, that footman Jimmy seems nice maybe I'll ask him" replied Alec noticing Thomas' face drop when he mentioned Jimmy.

"Yes, Jimmy is quite nice.. has he.. uh said anything to you at all?" asked Thomas whose face looked serious but was obviously on the verge of worry.

"Nothing really, just that I'll like working here" replied Alec.

"Good, good... well I'm going to my room now but I'll see you later tomorrow, yes? asked Thomas who was now smiling again.

Alec looked around the servants hall to make sure no one else was around. "You certainly will, Thomas" Alec replied as he leant up and planted a quick kiss on Thomas' cheek.

"Goodnight" Alec whispered into Thomas' ear and then went to his bedroom door and shut it keeping his eyes on Thomas the whole time.

"Goodnight" Thomas said quietly as he turned to go to his bedroom, he knew grinning like an idiot but he didn't care. He entered his room and shut the door behind him.

**Authors note: Hope you guys liked this chapter! Hope you didn't mind the cheesiness of it haha.**

**Be sure to leave me reviews to let me know what you thought of it. and again I apologise for any spelling, grammar and punctuation errors.**

**Thanks again for taking the time to read. :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Boy and Mr Barrow**

**by alternativebrooke**

**Warning: Potential Downton Abbey series 1-3 spoilers and M/M**

**Chapter 5**

Thomas woke up at 4am to prepare for Matthew and Mary's departure, he dressed in his navy coloured suit that he usually wore during outings, he was excited to go into town as it had been a very long time since he had left Downton, although the thought of Alec spending time around Jimmy and Alfred worried him .

Thomas left his room and looked down the dimly lit hallway knowing everyone who could make his life better or worse was asleep in their beds. He continued to Matthews room and knocked, after what seemed like 5 minutes later Matthew appeared from his bedroom with Lady Mary at his side.

"Right then, we seem to be ready to head off now Mr Barrow".

"Absolutely, My Lord" replied Thomas.

Thomas lead Matthew and Mary outside to their car and ushered them in, before getting inside the car himself.

Alec awoke around to the sound of someone banging on his door.

"Scudder you in there?" called a somewhat erratic voice from outside.

Alec leapt from his bed and moved quickly to the door, still in his white t-shirt and Pyjama pants he turned on the light and opened the door, standing in front of him Jimmy, fully dressed in uniform.

"Jimmy?, what are you doing? we don't have to be up for another hour and a half yet?" whispered Alec his voice husky from having just woken up, he didn't even want to think about how he looked.

"I know, but I was going to ask you a favour, mind if I come inside?" asked Jimmy his voice sounding almost pleading.

"Yeah, ok uh.. come in" Alec replied opening the door wider and stepping aside so Jimmy could enter.

"Alright, so yesterday Alfred and I were polishing the silver and it was getting.. well.. really boring, so we thought we could finish off the job in the morning but I just went into Alfred's room and he's too sick to work today, and I really need your help, there's way too much silver for one person to polish in an hour and a half" Jimmy's voice sounding obviously distressed.

Alec ran a hand through his hair and let out a huffed breath.

"Uh yeah I could help you out, just let me get changed".

"Thank you so much Alec! I know we don't really know each other but it's just Carson.. he would hang me himself if he got downstairs and a job from last night hadn't been done " Jimmy said who didn't leave but instead started pacing in Alec's room as he waited for Alec to get ready.

Alec walked over to his wardrobe cautiously obviously feeling slightly uncomfortable with Jimmy staying in his room while he changes, he opened his wardrobe and pulls out: a white button up shirt, black tweed vest, and lengthy black coat with his black hunting pants and leather boots. he looked over to Jimmy holding his clothes tightly in his arms.

"Alec, not to rush you but could you please hurry up or we won't get the polishing done" said Jimmy who was getting more nervous by the second, obviously not taking in Alec's discomfort with his presence.

Alec sighed as he put his clothes down and began to undress, starting by pulling his t shirt over his head and replacing it with his white button up shirt, he noticed Jimmy trying to keep his eyes anywhere but on Alec. he removed his pyjama pants and picked up his black hunting pants, he glanced at Jimmy who still pacing around the room impatiently. Sensing Jimmy's impatience Alec put on the rest of his clothes quickly.

"Alright I'm ready lets go" said Alec.

"Great, come quickly" said who was already stepping out the door, Alec had to jog a little bit just to keep up with Jimmy's very quick pace.

Upon reaching the kitchen Jimmy opened the cabinet doors and pulled out 3 full trays of silverware and 2 cloths and placed them on the staff table in the dining hall.

"Here" Jimmy said, throwing a cloth at Alec and motioning him to sit next to him.

Alec sat down next to Jimmy and started polishing the silver, he looked over to Jimmy who had already polished twice as many as Alec had.

"I really appreciate this Alec, I know it's not your place to be polishing the silver so.. thank you I really owe you for this" said Jimmy kindly, but still furiously polishing the silverware with his hands.

"No it's no problem, I certainly wouldn't want to be on Carson's bad side" Alec looked at empathetically.

"I'm already on Carson's bad side, I just don't want to give him a real reason to fire me" said Jimmy sucking in a deep breath, his eyes dropping to the table and his hands slowing in pace with the polishing.

"What do you mean, did something happen?" questioned Alec who was now feeling slightly concerned for Jimmy.

"Something happened alright" Jimmy replied his face now angry and his polishing pace back to being fast again. "The worst part is I shouldn't be the one that everyone's so disappointed in" Jimmy continued his eyes now on Alec's.

"Who's to blame then?" replied Alec curiously.

Alec watched Jimmy whose face was flicking through different emotions so quickly Alec couldn't decide how Jimmy must have felt, he saw anger, embarrassment and something he didn't expect to see..guilt. Jimmy looked back over to the trays, picked up another piece of silver and started polishing, slower this time.

"It's not important right now, we've got to get this done everyone will be down soon" said Jimmy whose face was back to calm.

Alec and Jimmy continued to polish in silence for the next half an hour. Jimmy put down the last piece of silverware and let out a dramatic deep breath.

"Done! and with 15 minutes to spare, you're not a bad silver polisher Alec I'll give you that" Jimmy stated with a large grin on his face as he shoved Alec playfully on the arm.

"Uh thanks" Alec replied with a laugh.

"You're a good man to do this for me" Jimmy said getting up from his chair to pick up the trays and put them back in the cabinet.

Alec got out of his chair and followed Jimmy to the kitchen where the cabinet was.

"We should head back to our rooms now, before Carson and the others wake up, come on" Jimmy said as he motioned Alec out the door and continued to walk up the stairs alongside him. Jimmy and Alec eventually made it to the servants quarters, with 5 minutes to spare.

"I wonder what Mr Carson's going to do about a second footman seeing as Alfred's sick. especially because Thom.. I mean Mr Barrow isn't here" said Alec nervously after almost mentioning Thomas' first name.

"OH GOD!, I'd forgotten about that! Carson will be on a rampage once he finds Alfred sick and no fill in footman" said Jimmy almost too loudly.

Jimmy and Alec heard the sound of someone walking around in one of the rooms and dashed back to their bedrooms.

Alec entered his room for no longer than a few minutes before he heard Carson's booming voice from the hallway.

"YOU'VE PICKED AN EXTREMELY INCONVINIENT TIME TO GET SICK ALFRED!" shouted Carson.

Alec opened his door and walked out into the hallway where Carson was talking to Jimmy, loudly as usual.

"WE DON'T EVEN HAVE MR BARROW HERE TO FILL IN, WHO'S GOING TO BE SECOND FOOTMAN JAMES? WE NEED A PLAN AND QUICKLY" yelled Carson who was starting to become very distressed and by the looks of it Jimmy was too.

"Um.. Mr Carson.. if you need a fill in that badly I could offer myself as a temporary replacement" offered Alec whose voice was almost a whisper from the other side of the hallway.

"ALEC? I DON'T THINK YOU WOULD BE SUITED FOR THE JOB OF A FOOTMAN, YOU DON'T HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE IN THE SERVING INDUSTRY, DO YOU? questioned Carson who was confused about Alec's offer.

"Well... actually I've done the serving at my old job a few times when the footmen were unable to, and there's really not much of a choice " said Alec politely

"RIGHT.. OKAY" Carson took in a deep breath " Alec you need to get into a footman's uniform immediately, Jimmy give him one of yours, both of you be downstairs in 15 minutes" said Carson as he quickly left the servants quarters. Jimmy's face was unreadable as they both went into Jimmy's room.

"Wow.. I'm impressed, someone who actually signs up to be Carson's lap dog for a day" said Jimmy laughing and giving Alec a pat on the back.

"Well I don't think I had any choice really, Carson looked like he was about ready to explode and take you out with him" Alec said mockingly as he watched Jimmy pull out a full footman's uniform from his wardrobe.

"Well again, you've made my life a hell of a lot easier.. and you haven't been here very long" Jimmy's voice sounded pleasant and relaxed "Here, put this on" Jimmy continued handing the uniform to Alec.

Alec started changing, now less concerned with the fact that Jimmy was in the room after earlier this morning. Once Alec had completely put on his uniform he turned to Jimmy "What do you think?"

Jimmy took one look at Alec and burst out in laughter, he had to hold himself up on the desk in his room to keep him from falling to the ground. "Oh god! Alec.. look at your jacket" Jimmy's body was still hunched over with laughter "You've put the wrong button in the wrong hole, now the whole jackets uneven, if Carson caught you like that" Jimmy's words were hard to understand though his bursts of laughter "Here.. let me fix it" Jimmy walked over to Alec and started undoing the buttons.

Alec's face was flushed with embarrassment.

"I hope you serve better than you put on your uniform" Jimmy stated, who had calmed down from his previous outbreak of laughter but was still trying to catch his breath. "Okay" Jimmy said standing back from Alec once he fixed the jacket and looked Alec up and down "Much better, except your hair.. that'll need to be neatened" Jimmy walked over to his bedside table and took a jar of hair product from the drawer.

"Now I'm assuming by your current hairstyle, you would have no idea how to use this correctly" said Jimmy holding his jar of product and studying the brown curly mess of hair on Alec's head "Sit down" Jimmy pulled the chair from the corner of his room to the centre and motioned Alec to sit down

Alec sat in the chair, he really didn't have any idea on the standard hairstyle that a footman at Downton would wear. Jimmy stood in front of him and started running his gel covered hands through Alec's hair trying to make the best style he could from Alec's unruly curls.

"Okay that's a lot better" Jimmy said rubbing his gel covered hands together "I've just got to wash this off now, I'll be back in a minute" Jimmy darted out the door to the basin.

Alec went over to the mirror in Jimmy's bedroom, he liked the footman's uniform, it was nothing like he had ever worn before he also really liked the way his hair looked; it was mostly slicked back except for a curl that was sitting on his forehead.

"Finished checking yourself out there Alec?" Jimmy's eyes on Alec from the door. "Come on, we have work to do" Jimmy waited for Alec to get to the door and they both walked to the kitchen together.

**Hey guys! I'm so sorry about how long this chapter took, but life's been hectic lately. I promise the next few chapters will be written a lot faster.**

**Also I know this chapter may have been a bit boring because of the lack of Thomas, but don't worry he'll be back in the next one! :)**

**Leave a review if you can to let me know if you like it or not, or if there's something that needs to be improved on (other than the spelling and grammar because I know I'm not very good with that haha)**

**Thanks so much for reading! :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**The Boy and Mr Barrow**

**by: alternativebrooke**

**WARNING: Potential Downton Abbey series 1-3 spoilers and M/M****.**

**Chapter 6**

The day had been successful so far, more successful than Alec had expected it to be. He was exiting the Crawley's dining room for the second time after having just served the family their lunch.

"Well look at you" said Jimmy as soon as Alec made it into the hallway he was staring at Alec, his smile slightly crooked "Are you sure you weren't a proper footman at your old job Alec?"

"I've never been a proper footman, only a fill in.. on occasion" replied Alec who was smoothing his hair back with his hand.

Jimmy just laughed under his breath "What can't you do?" Jimmy's eyes were again on Alec's, "Please, if you're bad at something let me know."

"Well I'm bad at putting on my uniform correctly, If you remember?" Alec replied with a laugh.

"And the styling of your hair.. obviously.." Jimmy grabbed Alec's hand to stop him from smoothing down his hair, which he had forgotten he had been doing for the last few minutes.

"You don't want to smooth all of your hair down, it makes you look far older than you are" Jimmy stated as he let go of Alec's hand. "Now come on, I'm sure Mrs Patmore has some lunch prepared for us back at the servants dining hall"

Jimmy and Alec walked alongside each other to the dining room, upon arrival Alec noticed for the second time today Ivy and Daisy held his gaze as he walked in, he also noticed Ivy's cheeks appearing rosier the closer he got. There were not many staff members in the dining hall today, he counted only six, two of them being he and Jimmy.

"He-llo..Alec" the words sounded as if they were being strangled from Ivy's throat. Daisy just looked at Ivy with her eyes opened wide.

"Hello Ivy" replied Alec as politely and as formally as he could sound.

"Oh.. my.. I- I didn't know you knew my name" The words wrestling were themselves out of Ivy's mouth.

"Well yes, Jimmy told me" Alec said gesturing his head towards Jimmy noticing an annoyed expression on Jimmy's face.

"Oh okay so d..." at that moment Ivy was abruptly cut off by Jimmy "Ivy if you wouldn't mind, Alec and I have been busy all day and would like to have something to eat instead of..well.. talking to you".

"Oh..of course.." Ivy flushed and look down at the table.

Jimmy went to sit down in his usual spot, Alec was standing there mouth gaping not sure if he should say something to Ivy or not.

"Alec, were you going to sit?" Jimmy called from his seat looking at Alec curiously. Alec made his way over to the seat next to Jimmy and sat down.

Jimmy and Alec began eating in silence, today's meal was some kind of soup and again it was delicious _'I could get used to this' _Alec thought to himself, when he was finished he picked up his bowl and brought it to the kitchen, Jimmy following close behind him with his own finished bowl.

"You've done very well today Alec, I might even say I'm impressed with your efforts" said the very loud and familiar voice of Carson who was standing behind the boys in the kitchen.

"Oh, thank you Mr Carson. It was my pleasure" Alec responded with a smile.

"Usually I wouldn't do this but you two have impressed me today even though I've inconvenienced you, If you would like you can take a two hour break, be back here at 3pm sharp though because there's still more work to be done" Carson exclaimed giving the two boys a quick nod before leaving the kitchen.

"Thank you Mr Carson" Jimmy and Alec said almost at the exact same time, which caused them both to snigger.

"My God! you should be second footman more often!" said Jimmy said ecstatically while patting Alec on the back. "Come on it's warm outside today and I've been dying to get some sun" Jimmy kept his hand on Alec's back as he lead them both outside.

Jimmy was right it was warm out today, Alec couldn't even remember the last time he enjoyed a sunny day like this when he wasn't busy working. "This one!" Jimmy found them a wooden bench to sit on, Jimmy sprawled himself over the bench trying to get as much of his body facing towards the sun as he could which left little room for Alec. Alec examined the limited space Jimmy had unintentionally left for him, there was hardly enough for a small child let alone a 23 year old. Jimmy noticed Alec had not sat down after about a minute or so and realised what he was doing.

"Oh Sorry.. sometimes I swear I don't think" said Jimmy apologetically changing his position so his back was against the side rail of the bench and his legs were bent at the knees so they would only reach to the middle of the seat to make room for Alec. As Alec sat down Jimmy took off his jacket and started to undo the buttons on his uniform until some of his chest was bare in the warm afternoon sun, Alec's eyes couldn't help but wander over Jimmy in this state, Alec had never seen him so relaxed and he had to admit Jimmy was a very handsome man but anyone could see that.. although not as handsome as.. At that moment realised how much he wanted to see Thomas again, he missed the way he could make Thomas' face light up just by smiling at him "I see you've got an admirer" said Jimmy blankly

Immediately Alec assumed Jimmy was talking about Thomas "WHAT!?" said Alec who's voice was almost a shout.

"Ivy, she fancies you..didn't you see her face when she was talking to you she was as red as a tomato, not very subtle that Ivy, trust me she did the same thing to me.. I know it when I see it" replied Jimmy.

"Oh! Ivy" Alec let out a sigh of relief "She did seem a bit nervous, I just thought that was because she was shy though".

"Are you kidding me? Do you even know how girls work Alec? asked Jimmy curiously.

Alec realised that was a question he had asked himself before, he had never in his life been interested in how girls worked or for that matter interested in them what so ever "Well.. I.." Alec stopped when he and Jimmy heard a car coming down the drive way of Downton they both watched the car until it was parked at the front of the Abbey about 20 metres away from the bench they were sitting on.

"Whose car is that?" asked Alec.

"It would have to be Matthew Crawley and Lady Mary coming back from their trip into town" Jimmy replied.

The car door opened and the first one to step out was Thomas, Alec's eyes were immediately on him, Thomas was wearing a navy coloured suit which Alec had not seen Thomas wearing before and he liked it, it made his beautiful blue eyes stand out even more. Thomas' hair was slightly dishevelled due to the bumpy ride back to Downton. Thomas went to the door of Downton and opened it for Matthew and the Lady Mary he was about to enter himself when he looked over to the direction Alec was in, Alec smiled at him when their eyes met and Thomas smiled back until Thomas looked at who was on the other side of the bench. Alec could see Thomas' change in expression from where he was sitting, Thomas' face became paler than usual and his smile disappeared. Alec became concerned he wanted to see if Thomas was okay but Thomas disappeared inside too quickly.

"Alec, we should probably head inside now it's nearing 3pm" said Jimmy as he started buttoning up his uniform and smoothing his hair back into place.

Alec leapt up from the bench, he was eager to get inside mostly to see Thomas again, Jimmy and Alec walked back together, when they got to the dining hall Thomas was sitting at the end of the table in his usual spot talking to Carson about the trip into town, once Carson had finished speaking with him he walked over to Jimmy and Alec.

"Ah Boys, you're back. Now James I need you to start winding the clocks in the main bedrooms upstairs seeing as you know how to do it, And as for you Alec I was thinking Thomas could teach you how to wind them in the guest bedrooms" ordered Carson.

"Of course Mr Carson, see you at dinner Alec" said Jimmy as he left the dining hall.

"Well I think we'll start with the first room in the east wing" Thomas' smouldering voice came from behind Alec.

Alec turned to look at Thomas, his breath couldn't help but hitch when he saw him. Thomas' in his navy coloured suit and dishevelled hair looked even better when it was up close than when he saw it from a far.

"Come with me" Thomas ordered and Alec followed, they continued to the east wing together

"How was picking out clocks with the Crawley's today?"Alec asked but keeping his eyes on the way Thomas walked, Alec noticed Thomas walked with a real confidence, this confused Alec because to him Thomas didn't radiate confidence when he spoke to him.. especially when he touched him.

"Honestly?, quite uneventful.. Lady Mary has an extremely difficult time with making decisions.. which can be..really frustrating" Thomas replied who seemed kind of frustrated himself.

Upon reaching the room Thomas opened the door for Alec and Alec walked straight in, Once the door was closed Thomas went over to the clock and opened the glass cover he started examining the hands of the clock. Alec was too busy looking at the room, it was one of the most amazing rooms he'd seen; the wallpaper was flawlessly matched, the bed was huge it looked about three times as big as his own and the floor was one of the cleanest he'd ever seen.

"Um, Alec.. did you want to come over to the clock, it's a little hard to teach you when you're over there?" asked Thomas watching Alec curiously stare around the room.

"Oh I'm sorry, isn't this room amazing though Thomas? I've never seen a bedroom like this before" Alec was now at Thomas' side, Thomas was glaring down at him with a wide grin on his face.

"You've really never seen a place like Downton before have you?" Thomas asked curiously, his eyes now beaming into Alec's.

"Never this extravagant.. but then again everything seems to be extravagant here.. the food, the gardens and especially the people" Alec slowly lifted his hand placed it on the side of Thomas' neck, he used his finger to gently stroke behind Thomas' ear, Thomas leaned into Alec's hand and smiled down at him.

"So I see you've been the acting second footman today" Thomas whispered softly while gesturing his eyes up and down Alec's uniform "It suits you" Thomas put his arms around Alec's waist and pulling him closer, Alec put both of his arms around Thomas' neck in response "I especially like what you've done with your hair" Thomas whispered in Alec's ear then moved his head back to place a short kiss on the top of Alec's head

"Well that's a coincidence Mr Barrow" whispered Alec now playfully running his fingers through the hair on the back of Thomas' head "Because I really like what you've done with yours" instead of kissing Thomas' head Alec planted a quick kiss on his lips "Now weren't you going to teach me how to wind this clock, we are still suppose to be working aren't we?"Alec said mockingly.

"If I must" answered Thomas who followed it up with a very overdramatic sigh which made Alec chuckle as he hadn't seen that side of Thomas before, he didn't know Thomas had a playful side.. but the idea of a playful Thomas made him happier than he was already.

Thomas and Alec released each other from their embrace and Alec watched as Thomas gave him a demonstration on how to wind a clock correctly afterwards and they moved to the next bedroom so Alec could try to wind a clock for himself. Alec could tell his first try was wrong because he could hear Thomas sniggering behind him.

"Alright what have I done wrong?" Alec asked looking back at Thomas pouting

"Well..nothing major..just... Ok let me help you" Thomas walked over and stood directly behind Alec, so close Alec could feel Thomas' hot breath on his neck "Now what you've got to do is turn this before you start on the hands" said Thomas pointing to a little gold knob, Alec did what he said and then started on the hands "Perfect" Thomas whispered in Alec's ear "I knew you could do it" planting a kiss on Alec's neck Thomas stood back and Alec shut the glass cover of the clock.

"Only a few more rooms then we've got to get you back to the kitchen to serve the family, which I'm really looking forward to seeing by the way". Thomas said mockingly

On that note Alec and Thomas left the room together.

**Thanks for reading guys! Hope you liked this chapter :) **

**Please leave reviews to let me know what you think of the way the story is progressing, I love hearing all of your opinions!**


	7. Chapter 7

**The Boy and Mr Barrow**

**by: alternativebrooke**

**WARNING: Potential Downton Abbey series 1-3 spoilers and M/M****.**

**Chapter 7**

Alec had just finished winding the clock in the last bedroom, Thomas was leaning against the door with his arms crossed examining Alec's technique.

"You're a fast learner Alec, maybe you should try being a fill in under butler." Thomas mocked giving Alec a wink.

"Well if you ever need a day off I would be glad to help out, the shooting season doesn't start for a little while and all I've really got to do is mow the-" Alec was abruptly cut off by Thomas.

"Alec, I was kidding.. and if I was to have a day off I wouldn't like you to be working at the same time anyway." Thomas said smoothly his eyes on Alec.

"Oh." Alec chuckled "I see." His eyes met Thomas' and they both gave each other a subtle knowing smile.

A few seconds later the door Thomas was leaning on was quickly pulled open from the other side, Thomas stumbled back into the hallway and fell to the floor. the look on his face was of complete shock as he looked up to Jimmy who was standing next to the door with his arms crossed trying desperately to contain his laughter.

Jimmy's eyes were now on Alec's "I just thought I'd check to see if you were nearly finished Alec, and to let you know to head down to the kitchen as soon as you were." Jimmy went to leave, but not before giving Thomas a second look who was still on the ground, he didn't offer to help him up, he just left no longer bothering to contain his laughs.

Alec ran over to Thomas "Oh my god Thomas are you alright?." Alec asked helping Thomas up, Thomas looked horrified, his face was flushed and he didn't even make eye contact with Alec as he was helped to his feet.

"I'm fine, just...never mind" Thomas was dusting himself off now, he walked into the guest bedroom and checked how he looked in the mirror, smoothing down his hair and straightening his outfit.

"You look fine." said Alec who was standing a few metres from Thomas with an apologetic look on his face.

Thomas looked over to Alec and let out a sigh "I don't even know why I'm doing this, I've got to change into my uniform before dinner anyway, if you'll excuse me" Thomas left the room and headed for his bedroom.

Alec watched him leave, let out a sigh of his own and made his way to the kitchen.

"Jesus! did you see that, Barrow hit the ground like a ton of bricks" Jimmy was laughing and by the looks of his face he hadn't stopped since the hallway.

"I didn't find it very funny" Alec responded with a straight face.

Jimmy squinted his eyes at Alec "How could you not?! that was definitely the highlight of my week, no wait make that my year" stated Jimmy whose laughs had died down in volume after hearing Alec's response.

Alec met Jimmy's eyes "He could of been hurt, Jimmy".

"Oh God! please don't tell me you feel sorry for Barrow.!?" Jimmy had a shocked expression on his face that was similar to the one Thomas displayed in the hallway.

"I- " The boys concluded their conversation as soon as Carson entered the room.

"Okay! Alec, James I need you to start on the serving of dinner now. I'll keep watch of the first half of dinner and Mr Barrow will watch the second. Off you go" Ordered Carson.

Alec and Jimmy went to collect the plates to start serving the family.

Thomas sat on his bed with his head in his hands. He had changed into his under butler uniform now although his hair was still un styled. Hechanged the position of his hands and was now using them to lean his head on. He wanted to be angry at Jimmy for humiliating him, but he found that he couldn't be, not after what he did to him all those months ago. he thought before today that maybe Jimmy would eventually forgive him for the incident but now he knew that it would never be forgiven let alone forgotten. The thought worried Thomas. He wondered if Alec would do the same, maybe when he got bored of Thomas he'd treat him the same way Jimmy does now. He tried to push the thoughts as far from his mind as he could he had a dinner to supervise.

Thomas stood up and made his way to the mirror in his bedroom hair product in hand. Before slicking his hair down Thomas studied his face in the mirror; he noticed his skin did not have the same uncracked porcelain appearance it had when he first started working at Downton. He knew he wasn't old, he was only in his early 30's,he didn't believe age was the defining factor in his change of appearance. he remembered back to all the stressful sleepless nights he suffered during his service in the war and all the times he had been betrayed or been in trouble, realising there were almost too many to count Thomas gave up and focused his attention on his styling his hair.

Thomas arrived downstairs just in time for the second half of dinner. Carson opened the door to the Crawley's dining hall and allowed Thomas entry. Thomas straightened his uniform and walked in as Carson exited. Alec and Jimmy looked up to see who had entered the room, a smile appeared on Alec's face upon realising it was Thomas, where as Jimmy's face did the opposite his discomfort was made obvious with the frown on his face. Both Alec and Jimmy were circling around the table Jimmy was serving the food and Alec pouring the wine.

"You've been doing very well today Alec I know this isn't really your area of expertise but you've shown you're quite capable." said Robert with a nod "I wouldn't mind a glass of white wine though, I'm not really in the mood for red tonight if you wouldn't mind." Robert gestured his head towards the bottle of red wine Alec was holding.

"Of course my Lord" Alec responded without thinking, truthfully he had no idea where the wine was kept, he tried to subtly look around the room for a cabinet but had no such luck, right then he made eye contact with Thomas and walked over to him slowly. Thomas was looking back at Alec curiously. Alec stopped right in front of Thomas. he leant his head in and whispered "Um..Thomas can you show me where I might be able find the wine." Alec's expression was a mix of shame and pleading.

Thomas tried to respond professionally but he couldn't hide his smile as he found the situation slightly humorous. "Follow me." Thomas replied leading Alec out of the room, Alec looked back at Jimmy whose expression was unreadable.

"Okay, come in here." Thomas said opening the door to the wine cellar and leading Alec to the shelf where the white wine was kept "Alright, take this one.. it's the one his lordship usually has when he's not in the mood for red" Thomas said handing the bottle of wine to Alec.

"Well I feel like a right idiot, I was going to try so hard to impress you too." Alec said taking the wine from Thomas.

"Alec, you don't need to worry about that, you haven't stopped impressing me since you got here" Thomas responded, eyes widening when he realised how cheesy that sounded.

Alec stared at him astonished. "You know Thomas, sometimes I think I've got you sorted out and then you say something else and it just completely throws me again". Alec said as he gently grabbed Thomas' disfigured hand and held it in his own. "Anyway what do you say we brave the Crawley's again" Alec gave Thomas' hand a quick squeeze and let go.

The disappointment was evident on Thomas' face, he'd much rather of stayed in the wine cellar with Alec, but realising he needed to get back to work he nodded and opened the door for Alec "After you." said Thomas, Alec playfully bowed "Why thank you Mr Barrow". Thomas just shook his head and laughed.

Alec and Thomas walked back to the dining hall and entered. Thomas lead Alec to the corkscrew they kept on the bench where Thomas supervised and Alec unscrewed the cork from the bottle, heading straight over to Robert as soon as the cork was gone and poured the wine into the glass.

"Thank you Alec and thank you too Mr Barrow" said Robert with an entertained grin spreading across his face.

"No problem my Lord." replied Thomas trying desperately to keep a straight face. Matthew and Mary quietly laughed to themselves, even the Dowager countess had a smile on her face. Alec's cheeks reddened, slightly mortified he returned the bottle to the counter next to Thomas, Jimmy made his way over to the counter as well.

"Come on Alec, we don't need to be in here for 20 minutes we have to give them the chance to eat." Jimmy put his hand on Alec's back "We'll be back soon Mr Barrow." Jimmy's voice was insincere as lead Alec out of the dining hall. Thomas' eyes widening when noticed Jimmy's hand on Alec's back.

"Sorry about not showing you where the wine was kept I had no idea his Lordship would ask for a different wine." Jimmy said apologetically as soon as they were out in the hallway.

" No it's fine.. I just feel like a bit of an idiot, even Mr Crawley and Lady Mary were laughing at me." Alec rubbed his face with his hand and let out a huffed breath.

"You shouldn't let it worry you.. it's not your fault" Jimmy said patting Alec on the shoulder, Alec watched Jimmy's hand on his shoulder "Come on, we'll go and wait in the servants dining hall".

As soon as they entered the dining hall Ivy's eyes were immediately on Alec, Ivy and Daisy were the only ones in the room and were sitting with each other at the end of the table.

"How was serving the family tonight Alec.? "Ivy asked her eyes were unsubtly trailing over Alec from head to toe, this made Alec more uncomfortable than it probably should have, he never got any attention from girls and if this was what it felt like to get it he didn't want it.

"Um fine, Ivy." Alec replied with his eyes on the floor.

"W..Would you like to sit by me..well until you have to go collect the plates?." Ivy looked up at Alec her eyes glistening with hope, Alec could hear Jimmy making annoyed noises from beside him.

"Uhm.. I suppose so." He walked over to Ivy, hearing Jimmy scoff as he went. he pulled up a chair next to Ivy and sat down.

"I like your footman uniform Alec, you look so different...different as in good..not bad different." Ivy's face was bright red as the words struggled to get out of her mouth. Alec couldn't get his head around Ivy's inability to speak when he was around, she confused him the most out of everyone here. Alec knew he wasn't handsome like Thomas and Jimmy and he knew his accent wasn't smooth and British, All Alec could see when he looked at himself was a rough and messy looking boy. yet this girl seemed to be smitten.

"Thank you.. Ivy." Alec replied promptly, his fingers were curling and uncurling rapidly under the table, he didn't feel like this when he spoke to Thomas or Jimmy, He wasn't really sure what to say to a girl who was this nervous around him.

"IVY GET IN HERE." Mrs Patmore's voice screeched from the kitchen, Ivy got up quickly and went into the kitchen without a word. Alec just looked straight forward his fingers were still curling and uncurling underneath the table.

Jimmy noticed Alec's hands under the table and made his way to the seat next to him.

Alec eyes widened when felt someone grabbing his hand he looked beside him at Jimmy whose eyes were on him "You know you can relax Alec, she's just a girl..she's not going to bite you" Jimmy let out a small chuckle, Alec was still surprised at the fact Jimmy was holding onto his hand and straightening his fingers out. "It's alright..sometimes I get nervous around people too, you wouldn't think it.. but I do" Jimmy flashed a smile "Alright back to the dining hall, we've just got to clear the plates for the last meal of the day and then your work as a footman's over." Alec noticed a hint of disappointment on Jimmy's face with the last sentence.

They both got up and walked to the dining hall to start clearing the table, The family was out of the room when they got there, only Thomas was left. It was awkward at first no one really spoke and Alec could feel the tension between Thomas and Jimmy, in fact he had noticed as soon as he got to Downton. They seemed to dislike each other and he had no idea why.

Alec decided he was going to ask, but who would he ask, Thomas or Jimmy?.

**Hey guys! Hope you liked this chapter. Thank you so much for reading!.**

**I've been getting a few questions lately (I love questions, so thank you :D) I thought I'd straighten them out for you here:**

**I know it seems Alec is moving along very quickly with Thomas, but the character of 'Alec Scudder' does that in Maurice. For anyone who wasn't aware he climbed through the window of another man's room and slept with him after speaking to him twice ha-ha so it's not unusual for Alec Scudder to move very quickly in a relationship. And as for Jimmy you'll just have to wait and see where that goes haha. :)**

**Please leave reviews if you can, I love hearing what you guys have to say. :D **


	8. Chapter 8

**The Boy and Mr Barrow**

**by: alternativebrooke**

**WARNING: Downton Abbey series 1-3 spoilers and M/M****.**

**Chapter 8**

Alec and Jimmy had cleared the last few plates from the table and were now sitting together in the dining hall about to eat dinner, Thomas had gone outside for a smoke, but had just returned.

"Come and sit over here Mr Barrow." said Alec gesturing to the only available seat in the dining hall with a smile.

Upon noticing the only available seat was situated next to Jimmy, Thomas decided he'd rather skip dinner.

"I think I'll just go for an early night, Thanks." Thomas smiled at Alec trying his best to hide his disappointment before leaving.

Alec instantly grew instantly concerned as he watched Thomas leave.

"You'll be glad to know Alfred is feeling better Alec, he should be well enough to work tomorrow so you won't need to fill in for him." said Carson sincerely.

"Good to hear he's feeling better Mr Carson" Alec replied noticing Ivy's face from across the table drop upon hearing he wouldn't need to fill in as a footman anymore.

"Damn, I liked having you as the second footman." said Jimmy giving Alec a crooked smile.

Alec chuckled. "Why?"

"Because I like you much more than Alfred" Jimmy replied with a straight face.

"What's wrong with Alfred?." Alec was curious as to why Jimmy liked him more than Alfred, it didn't make a whole lot of sense to him considering Jimmy has only known him for a few days.

"To be completely honest; He's kind of boring, very monotone and we don't have a lot in common." Jimmy said with such ease it was like he didn't even care about the fact he was insulting someone out loud.

"Oh" Alec chuckled remembering the first time he met Alfred. And after replaying their first conversation over again he realised Jimmy was pretty much spot on.

Daisy walked in with the first plate of food for the servants.

"Where did Mr Barrow go?" asked Daisy looking around the room.

Alec suddenly remembered that Thomas was skipping dinner. Jimmy got a plate for Alec and set it down in front of him.

"Actually, I'm not feeling very hungry either" Alec announced to Jimmy "I might just go to bed", Alec stood up and pushed his chair in.

"What, really!?" Jimmy stared at Alec shocked.

"Yes, I'll see you in the morning Jimmy" Alec said politely as he left.

"Oh..Goodnight, remember to return my uniform, I'll need it back soon." Jimmy called from across the dining hall.

"Sure will, Goodnight." Alec called and continued on his way to the servants quarters, he stopped when he reached Thomas' door. He stood outside for a moments trying to neaten his hair with his hands before knocking.

"Thomas, it's Alec..would you mind if I came in? Alec slowly pushed the door open, He didn't turn bother to turn the light on. The moon was bright enough to keep the room lit, Alec walked in shutting the door behind him before turning around.

He froze when he saw Thomas. Thomas was standing next to the open window in his room smoking a cigarette, His top half completely naked and his hair was wet as if he had just bathed Alec had suddenly lost the ability to speak when Thomas turned to him his eyes looked almost translucent in the moonlight and his skin flawless. It was not only Thomas' face that stunned Alec though it was Thomas' body, he was not thin but he was toned, his stomach was flat and his chest was well defined, the muscles in his arms weren't prominent but they were definitely there, he was exquisite, everything about him.

"Are you alright there Alec?" Thomas asked breathing out the last puff of his cigarette before stubbing it out on the ashtray sitting on his windowsill.

Alec had to look down in order to respond "Yes, perfectly fine, I just thought I'd check to see if you were feeling okay seeing as you skipped dinner".

When Alec looked up Thomas had moved closer to him. "That's very kind of you" said Thomas his voice sounding delectably smooth.

"It's what anyone would do" stated Alec, his voice sounded distant as he seemed to be focused completely on how perfect Thomas looked right now.

"No" Thomas replied his face unreadable he continued moving closer until they were a few inches apart.

"No one else would Alec...only you" Thomas tilted his head to the side, his eyes now boring into Alec's.

"I don't understand..why wouldn't they?" Alec responded, he felt as if he was being hypnotised by Thomas stunning blue eyes.

"In case you hadn't noticed I'm not very liked around here Alec." Thomas said grimly.

Alec thoughts immediately turned to how Jimmy had acted around Thomas today.

"Why doesn't Jimmy like you Thomas?" Alec asked hesitantly.

Thomas drew in a deep breath" Come and sit with me" Thomas grabbed Alec by the hand and lead him over to the bed.

They sat on the end of the bed right next to each other. Thomas took another deep breath, he knew what he was about to tell Alec had the potential to ruin their relationship and that terrified him.

"As you can imagine when Jimmy came to Downton everyone noticed how good looking he was, myself included" He looked over to Alec who was sitting right next to him listening carefully.

"And I got the wrong impression, I thought he really liked me..well as much as I liked him anyway.. but I soon learnt that wasn't the case. I hadn't had attention from anyone in so many years and I thought maybe...". Thomas' looked down, the expression on his face was grim. he looked as if he was about to cry, Alec was starting to get worried, he didn't see Thomas as man that got upset often so what he was about to tell him must have been bad. Alec was still holding Thomas' hand at this point. He used his thumb to stroke Thomas' hoping it would help him to calm down.

"Thomas, you can tell me anything" Alec smiled at him reassuringly.

Thomas looked down "Well I was also being lead to believe that he liked me by someone who I used to trust. So one night about a month ago I went to his room and... I... kissed him, although I'm quite sure he was asleep" Thomas bottom lip began quivering. "It was so stupid. I don't know what I was thinking, I'd been alone for so long and as soon as I thought someone had the slightest interest in me I jumped at it. I regret it every day of my life Alec. I nearly lost everything over it: my career, my freedom..everything." Thomas voice was straining, Alec could tell this was killing him to admit.

"You must think I'm revolting". A single tear fell from Thomas' eye. he swiped it away as quickly as it fell. Alec wasn't so much concerned about the fact Thomas kissed Jimmy, he was more concerned for Thomas' wellbeing at this point. He had never seen a more beautiful man so filled with pain. It seemed Thomas put on a strong face for everyone. but Alec knew this was the real Thomas. The one he lets no one see.

Alec let go of Thomas' hand and stood up from the bed, he turned around and knelt in front of Thomas who was still sitting on the bed, he put both of his hands on the sides of Thomas' face, Thomas looked up to Alec surprised, His blue eyes were wet with tears, his skin blotchy from where he had been rubbing it, his hair was drying messily on his head, again Alec was awe struck. Even when he was sad he was still the most striking man Alec had ever seen.

"Thomas, you're anything but revolting" Alec leant in, pulling Thomas' face gently towards his own and kissed him lightly on the mouth. But when he pulled back all Alec could see on Thomas' face was disbelief. Thomas really believed himself to be revolting. Alec decided to reassure him he was the exact opposite.

"But how coul-" Thomas was cut off when Alec's lips crashed onto his. Alec wrapped his arms around Thomas and held onto him firmly. Thomas was rigid at first from the surprise of the kiss but he soon relaxed. Thomas' mouth parted slightly and Alec swiped his tongue across Thomas' bottom lip causing Thomas' breath to hitch, Thomas grabbed Alec by the waist and pulled him on top of him their mouths still on each others. Alec moved one of his hands to Thomas' bare chest and pushed him down so he was lying flat on the bed. Thomas was running his hands up and down Alec's back pulling Alec's body closer and closer to his own as he went. The kiss was getting deeper by the second, their tongues caressed each others slowly and languidly. Thomas pulled back and to catch his breath, Alec looked down and smiled when he saw Thomas' face was flushed. He decided to move to Thomas' neck while Thomas was catching his breath, he trailed small kisses starting from below Thomas' ear and making his way down until he got to the middle of Thomas' neck where he began lightly sucking and nipping on Thomas' skin, Thomas moaned in response his hands now digging into Alec's back. Bodies pressed hard against each other. Aroused and frantic Alec returned his lips to Thomas' this time Thomas was the one to push his tongue inside, his movements were not slow like Alec's but instead Thomas' kiss was much deeper, Thomas ripped off Alec's jacket and threw it to the ground anxious for the feeling of warm skin on his own. Their tongues still ravaging each other's mouths, they became desperate for more Alec pulled back from the heated kiss panting and sat up on top of Thomas his legs either side of Thomas' body. He started speedily undoing the collar of his uniform followed by the buttons on his vest and shirt, pulling one article of clothing off and starting on the next Alec's eyes were full of desire as he pulled off the final layer of clothing, revealing his naked chest. Thomas stared admiring Alec's bare chest. He had a boyish physique, slim with gorgeous naturally tanned skin. Upon Looking closer he noticed a few scars on Alec's stomach and some faded bruises, Thomas' thoughts on the injuries were interrupted when Alec pressed his body onto Thomas'. Thomas couldn't remember ever feeling such a warmth, Alec trailed wet kisses and licks down Thomas' chest continuing down Thomas' body, over his stomach getting deliciously close to Thomas' cock which was already half hard, Alec made eye contact with Thomas while playfully tugging at the strings on Thomas' pants. Thomas was panting heavily realising what Alec was about to do to him.

"Goodnight Mr Carson"

Thomas and Alec froze when they heard voices and footsteps in the hallway.

"Mr Barrow?" Carson knocked on the door. Alec and Thomas looked at each other both with the same mortified expression, Alec got off of Thomas started hastily picking up his clothes from the floor Thomas jumped up from his bed and threw his white t shirt on. He moved quickly to the door, Alec stood against the opposite side of the wardrobe clutching his clothes to his chest so he would be just out of Carson's visual field if he looked in. Thomas opened his door the tiniest bit.

"Yes Mr Carson?" Thomas replied as smoothly as he could.

"I just wanted to let you know Alfred's feeling better and he'll be able to work tomorrow" Carson squinted his eyes at Thomas through the small gap in the door.

"Are you feeling alright Mr Barrow? your face is looking rather red" Carson asked concerned.

Thomas' eyes widened "Um I think I've got a bit of a fever that's all, but I'll be fine" Thomas replied with the straightest face he could manage, meanwhile Alec was trying not to laugh from behind the wardrobe.

"Well let's hope you didn't catch Alfred's illness, we don't need another sick employee. Anyway I'm off to bed I'll see you in the morning Mr Barrow." Carson said as he turned around and left.

Thomas nodded, shutting the door as soon as he could. Alec poked his head out from behind the wardrobe with the cheekiest grin on his face "Close one." Alec laughed as started changing back into his uniform.

Thomas chuckled "Quite" he leaned his back against the door and let out a deep breath "Are you leaving?" Thomas said upon noticing Alec was putting his clothes on.

"Oh trust me I don't want to, but I've got to get this uniform back to Jimmy as soon as possible. He reminded me in the dining hall" Alec said pouting. Once dressed he walked straight over to Thomas who was still standing with his back against the door.

"How dare Mr Carson." Alec tilted his head to the side looking Thomas up and down before moving even closer.

"Making you put on your shirt like that, it should be illegal" Alec ran his hand underneath Thomas' shirt making Thomas gasp. Alec slid his hand higher and higher enjoying the smoothness of Thomas skin and letting out a sigh.

"You know you're making it really hard for me to leave" Alec smirked and leant up to kiss Thomas lightly on the lips before moving his hand out from under Thomas' shirt. Thomas looked down at Alec and reluctantly moved away from the door so Alec could get out.

"Oh and about the incident you had with Jimmy..It really doesn't bother me. You made a mistake Thomas but that doesn't make you revolting" Alec gave Thomas a reassuring smile before opening the door slightly and checking for people in the hall.

"Alec?" Thomas' face was back to serious.

"Yes?" Alec looked back concerned at Thomas' tone.

"Thank you " said Thomas his tone was now thankful, a small appreciative smile spread across his face.

"No need, really...no need to thank me at all" Alec responded looking Thomas up and down again before sighing noisily "Goodnight Mr Barrow." Alec bowed playfully and gave Thomas a wink before ducking out into the hall, leaving Thomas laughing grinning at Alec's exit.

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading guys! and don't worry more Thomas/Alec action to come. Also I'm sorry if there's spelling and grammar errors. **

**Leave reviews if you can. Let me know of how you think I went at writing my first very mild smut haha. :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**The Boy and Mr Barrow **

**By: alternativebrooke**

**Warning: Potential Downton Abbey series 1-3 spoilers and M/M**

**Chapter 9**

Alec wiped more sweat off his face, It was a really warm day today and He had been at the newly labelled hunting grounds of Downton all day preparing the grounds. He had finally got all of the work done at 3:30pm, he should have gone back for lunch at 1pm but decided to stick it out until everything was finished so he'd have free time at the end of the day. He strolled back to Downton in the heat, his face was flushed and sweaty by the time he got back.

Alec walked into the hallway just before the dining room and leant against the wall fanning his face with his hand trying to cool down before he entered the dining hall.

"Hot out there?" Jimmy asked who was suddenly right next to Alec, Alec looked back to him surprised by his sudden appearance.

"Ah.. yeah, worse than I expected" Alec still had a few beads of sweat running down his forehead. the reason being he didn't know if it was appropriate to take his coat off, he wondered if it would be breaking the uniform code and he really didn't want to have to deal with Carson today.

Jimmy was staring at Alec's flushed face "Here" he stepped behind Alec and put his hands on Alec's shoulders gently pulling the coat off him. Alec started slightly at Jimmy's touch, his eyes widened the last time someone had undressed him it wasn't exactly in public.

"There you are, You'll not stop sweating with this coat on" stated Jimmy who was now back in front of Alec again.

"Oh...uh Thanks" Alec stuttered "I wasn't really sure if I was allowed to take it off or not...you know Carson" Alec looked down to the floor, that move from Jimmy hadn't exactly helped to cool him down.

"I'm sure it's fine, I don't think Carson wants you to die of heat stroke" Jimmy laughed his arms still wrapped around Alec's coat.

"Alec! where were you!?" Carson's voice roared from across the room, making his way over to Alec.

"Oh I-I thought I'd finish all today's work at once, so I wouldn't have to return in the afternoon" Alec stammered "I hope that's okay Mr Carson" the fear was noticeable in Alec's voice.

Carson stood staring into space for a moment, he seemed to be confused that someone would miss lunch to continue work.

"Oh..well..okay Alec.. I suppose that's acceptable..as long as everything is done" replied Carson who was now looking down at Alec's coat which was enfolded in Jimmy's arms. He looked as if he was about to say something but brushed it off and walked away briskly.

When Carson was out of hearing distance, Jimmy exhaled deeply "Well that went alright, so if you've finished all your jobs what are you doing for the rest of the day?"

"Well I'm thinking a bath first" replied Alec.

"Do you know where it is?" asked Jimmy smirking.

"Oh.. I suppose I don't" Alec replied quietly.

"Well don't worry, I'll show you" said a very familiar and alluring voice from the doorway of the servants dining hall, Alec turned around to see Thomas standing there arms crossed with a self assured smile on his face.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to work Jimmy, I see the new wines haven't been unpacked and placed on the shelves yet" Thomas spoke to Jimmy but his eyes never left Alec.

Jimmy was angrily glaring at Thomas, although Thomas was taking no notice.

"That would be very kind of you Mr Barrow" Alec smiled devilishly back at Thomas

Jimmy's irritation was obvious, he hated Thomas telling him what to do.

Breathing out an infuriated sigh he pushed past Thomas to the wine cellar in defeat.

"Where have you been all day?" Thomas leant up against the wall next to Alec.

"Busy working at the hunting grounds, but I'm all finished now" Alec replied, his eyes still on Thomas'.

"I was about ready to send out a search party" Thomas mocked.

"Really? Are you sure everyone else would have enjoyed looking for me?" Alec nodded sarcastically towards Alfred who was fixing button on his jacket in the dining room.

"Well I more or less meant a party of one" Thomas winked.

Alec sniggered quietly trying not to draw any attention to their conversation.

"What do you say I show you the bathroom then?" Thomas gestured his head towards the stairs and started walking.

Alec followed Thomas up the stairs "I'll need to try and find some clothes to wear in my wardrobe first".

"Alright" Thomas stopped at Alec's room when they got to the servants quarters and opened the door for him.

Alec went straight over to his wardrobe and Thomas waited on the chair in Alec's room and watched him open empty drawes and shuffle through the same pile of clothes. Alec was struggling to find anything to wear he couldn't bring many clothes with him, he never got the chance to pack. Alec tried blocking the memories out of his head, he didn't want to go back there, he hadn't thought about it in so long. Thomas noticed Alec shudder from near his wardrobe and he immediately sprung to his feet.

"Are you alright? you've been shuffling through the same clothes for a while now?" Thomas moved next to Alec and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah.. I'm fine, I just don't have anything to wear that's clean" Alec said grimly.

Thomas looked inside his mostly empty wardrobe and sighed, he glanced back at Alec who looked like he was in pain.

"Alec are you sure you're okay?" Thomas was beginning to get concerned now

"Perfectly" Alec replied half heartedly, but his smile was more convincing than his voice.

"If you're worried about your clothes you can have some of mine" Thomas smiling warmly back.

"Really, you'd do that?" Alec smiled.

"Of course, come on I'll show you where the bath room is" Thomas walked over and opened the door for Alec.

Alec followed very closely behind Thomas, he walked inside there was a bath in the middle of the room and a few mirrors lining the walls and basins underneath the mirrors, it was fairly basic but a lot nicer than Alec had ever seen Thomas walked over to the bath and started running the water.

"I'll be back in a minute, I'll just get you something to wear" Thomas's eyes swept over Alec before leaving the room, he picked out one of his casual suits, he decided on the brown one because he thought it would suit Alec's skin and eyes. He walked back to the bathroom and opened the door.

Thomas saw Alec leaning on the end edge of the bath, Alec was unbuttoning his white shirt, his hair was a complete mess, Thomas put the clothes down on a chair next to the door and walked over to Alec who was gazing fondly at Thomas' while unbuttoning the rest of his shirt. Thomas drew in a deep breath, Alec smirked and threw his shirt to the ground. Thomas bit his lip while examining Alec with his eyes.

"You look..striking like that" Thomas said sincerly, his voice as smouldering as usual.

Alec laughed "Have a good look at yourself before you decide what striking looks like Thomas" this triggered Thomas to blush slightly, Alec smirked in response.

"Come over here" Alec insisted licking his top lip.

Thomas walked over to Alec, he noticed Alec's faded bruises again, he wondered if he should ask about it. "Alec I-" Thomas was cut off.

Alec grabbed Thomas by the jacket and pulled him into a kiss. Thomas stumbled slightly but Alec steadied him with the hand he was using to grip Thomas' jacket. Thomas was kissing back now, he ran his hand over Alec's chest feeling the warmth and smoothness of Alec's skin. The kiss became heated almost immediately. Their tongues entwined and their movements becoming rapid and wild both of them were panting into the kiss now desperately in need of a breath but not desperate enough to leave each other's mouths. they were clutching and groping everywhere completely ravaging each other.  
Alec was lost in the kiss yanking Thomas towards him by his jacket so he could get him as close as possible.  
Their kiss was becoming so erratic that Alec needed to steady himself on the bath but Thomas distracted him by thrusting his hips onto forward onto Alec's. Alec keened and moaned moving his hands down to Thomas' hips aching for the feeling of Thomas' groin against his again. Alec jerked Thomas hips towards him making them both cry out uncontrollably. Lust was consuming them, they were kissing messily, spirally and completely out of control.

Thomas was pushing his body against Alec making it hard for Alec to stay upright. He went to grab onto the edge of the bath to stabilise himself not realising the bath was too low down. He reached out to the nonexistent edge his hand flailing in the air for a moment before he lost his balance causing him to fall backwards taking Thomas with him.

Alec yelped accidently dragging Thomas down into the bathtub on top of him with a large splash they both landed in the bath, water poured over the edge flooding the surrounding floor. They were both laying in the bath. Thomas still on top of Alec, both completely soaking wet.

"Are you okay?" Thomas looked down at Alec concerned, his eyes gapping wide.

Alec was breathing heavily and nodding.

They just stared at each other in shock for a moment, Alec broke the silence when he looked at Thomas' drenched uniform and began laughing loudly, Causing Thomas to join him in an outbreak of laughter.

"I'd say sorry.." Alec whispered still laughing under his breath "But then I wouldn't gotten to see you like this" He laughed while running his hands through Thomas' wet hair. "You look great wet" Alec leaned up and kissed Thomas quickly on the mouth. They stared at each other adoringly the fact they were still in the bathtub seemed to become unimportant the longer they held each other's gaze.

"You'll catch a cold if you stay in here " said Alec quietly, obviously not wanting Thomas to leave.

"I know...but I don't mind" whispered Thomas who was tracing along Alec's collar bone with his fingers.

Thomas continued to trail his finger down Alec's chest briefly circling the nipple Alec sighed blissfully closing his eyes as Thomas continued studying Alec's chest with his fingers. Thomas noticed the bruises again, they were faded now but they couldn't have been more than a few weeks old.

"Alec?" Thomas whispered.

"Mmm" Alec mumbled calmly, opening his eyes and gazing up at Thomas.

"How did these happen?" Thomas asked, gliding his fingertips over each of Alec's scars and bruises.

Alec's expression turned harsh all of a sudden, Like Thomas hadn't seen before.

"It doesn't matter" Alec's voice strained his eyes were angry but the rest of his face seemed petrified.

"Alec" Thomas gently took hold of the sides of Alec's face with both hands "It matters to me... did someone hurt you?" Thomas asked as calmly as he could manage. Alec swallowed hard. Thomas could see in Alec's eyes that he was scared and realised Alec didn't want to talk about it.

"You know what... it doesn't matter" Thomas gave him a small reassuring smile and let go of his face.

"Thank you" Alec breathed, lifting his hand to cup Thomas' cheek and tenderly stroke behind it with his fingers.

Thomas placed his hand over the one of Alec's that was on his cheek.

"If you ever want to tell me anything-" Thomas started.

"-I know and I will, trust me" Alec smiled.

Thomas was about to say something but all that came out of was sneeze "I'm sorry" said Thomas shaking his head and sniffling.

"I told you you'd get a cold!, come on we better get you out of the bathtub" said Alec gently pushing Thomas up.

Thomas stood up and got out, his clothes drenching what was left of the dry part of the floor surrounding the bath.

"You'll have to take those off" Alec gestured towards the clothes on Thomas' body "Just throw them in the bath..I'll go get you some dry clothes from you're room" Alec was suddenly on a mission. trying to do his best to stop Thomas from getting ill.

"And why do you have to go and get them?" Thomas asked curiously.

"Well if someone saw you leaving the bath room completely wet when they knew I was in here..." Alec didn't even need to finish off the sentence and Thomas was in complete agreement.

Alec went to the front of the room near the door and threw on just the shirt and pants from the suit Thomas had provided for him although the clothes were a few sizes too big he was glad to finally have clean clothes to wear.

Thomas began stripping off his clothes, starting with his jacket, vest and shirts, Alec took no effort in hiding the fact that he was watching. Thomas no longer had any clothes on his torso, a few beads of water ran down Thomas neck continuing down his pecs.

Alec was thoroughly enjoying the sight of Thomas' bare chest again. Thomas was about to take his pants off when he looked back at Alec who was standing near the door with his clothes on watching Thomas.

"You're staring" said Thomas laughing, a slight blush spreading over his cheeks.

"When you stop looking like that, I'll stop staring" replied Alec crossing his arms and biting his lip, never taking his eyes off Thomas.

Scoffing at Alec's remarks, Thomas slid his fingers down to the band of his pants and started slowly pulling down his pants and underwear at the same time Alec went completely silent while watching Thomas undress himself. The further down Thomas' pants got the faster Alec's heart started beating. Thomas was standing there wet and naked right in front of Alec. he swallowed hard involuntarily swiping his tongue across his lips. Thomas was astonishing, Alec hadn't blinked since Thomas started removing his clothes. Thomas smiled before walking over to the towel rack and covering his lower body by wrapping a towel around it.

"Wow" Alec breathed.

"Were you going to go and get me some clothes, or do I have to stand here like this all day?" Thomas pushed back his wet hair as he spoke his voice sounding huskier than usual.

"Was that even a question?" Alec bit his lip and tilted his head to the side looking Thomas up and down.

Thomas rolled his eyes and smiled playfully back at Alec. Alec surrendered and opened the door to the hallway, looking out to see if the coast was clear.

"Back in a minute" Alec grin roguishly as he left leaving Thomas by himself in the bathroom still dripping wet, his naked body only covered by a towel.

Alec padded quietly down the empty hallway before slipping into Thomas' room. Alec's eyes lingered on Thomas' bed , a slight smirk spread across his face as he walked over to the wardrobe and opened the doors, He just needed to find clothes suitable enough for Thomas to get from the bathroom to his room, he decided on just a top and pants.

He found where Thomas kept his tops and shirts and started flicking through the different options Alec had no idea why a man would need so many shirts, actually Thomas seemed to have a lot of clothes in general. Alec continued to bury his way down the pile of tops and shirts until he found one right down the bottom. It was a white top with unbuttoned buttons on the front that started at the breast and finished at the neck, the sleeves were three-quarter length, the material was very thin almost see-through. Alec held it up and examined it the top looked at least two sizes too small for Thomas. Alec laughed under his breath Thomas probably hadn't worn it in years which meant it would cling to him tightly. Alec decided he'd take it with him holding onto it as he plunged through the pants pile of Thomas' wardrobe hoping there would also be pants in the same condition as the top. Having no luck Alec huffed and just picked out some slimmer fitting trousers although not as slim fitting as Alec would have ultimately liked he pulled out a belt from the wardrobe for himself and ventured back to the bathroom making it just out of the door before a voice spoke from behind him.

"Alec, what were yer doin' in Mr Barrow's room?" asked Alfred who was obviously confused.

"Oh..Alfred, I was just..um" Alec gulped, Alfred's confused face was more intimidating than he would have originally assumed "I was just borrowing some clothes, I didn't bring many to Downton and Thom- Mr Barrow was kind enough to let me borrow some of his".

Alfred stared at Alec for a good minute before replying "Oh..okay" said Alfred casually"Although I have to say Alec they look ridiculous..they're far too big for you..you look like you're wearing a dress" Alfred replied a smile spreading across his face which had to be first smile Alec had seen on Alfred since he got here.

"I know they are but I haven't got much of a choice" Alec laughed and returned a smile to Alfred.

"Sure you do, I'm positive Jimmy will let you have some of his and you both seem like you're about the same size" said Alfred examine Alec's height and size. "I'll go ask him about it now, see you at Dinner" Alfred awkwardly waved as he turned and left.

Alec turned the opposite way back to the bathroom, as he quietly opened the door he noticed Thomas standing by the mirror trying to fix his hair which was starting to dry untidily on his head.

"I'm back, and with clothes" Alec said grinning at Thomas as he handed them over to Thomas.

"What the bloody hell is this?" Thomas said gesturing towards the white top in his hand.

"Oh I thought you'd like that...well I thought I'd like it anyway" Alec laughed. Thomas just stared at the white top in disgust.

"Well go on, put it on!" Alec playfully demanded.

Thomas glared at Alec with fake annoyance, he sighed and slipped into the top. It was ridiculously tight fitting, the fabric hugged Thomas and profoundly showed off every muscle of his. It did exactly what Alec wanted it to do.

Thomas looked in the mirror shaking his head "I look ridiculous!"

"You look fantastic" Alec smiled, standing next to Thomas while checking him out in the mirror.

Thomas sighed loudly and looked at Alec "I should probably get changed and back to work, besides you still need to have a proper bath" said Thomas chuckling and making his way over to the door in his extremely clingy shirt, "I'll see you at dinner Alec". Thomas opened the door and peered out leaving the bathroom shortly after.

"Save me a seat" Alec called out.

"Definitely" Thomas called back from the hallway, followed by the faint sound of a sneeze.

Alec sighed as he started gathering some towels to wipe up the water that spilled out of the bath and onto the floor.

**A/N: Hey everyone! sorry about the length of time it took to get this chapter done, life's been so busy lately and also thanks so much for the kind reviews i've gotten lately! I really appreciate it :)**

**Leave reviews if you can, I love hearing from you guys.**


	10. Chapter 10

**The Boy and Mr Barrow**

**by: alternativebrooke**

**WARNING: Downton Abbey series 1-3 spoilers, M/M and Violence.**

**Chapter 10**

"I suppose Mr Barrow isn't joining us for dinner again?" Alfred asked from the seat next to Alec.

"Still sick" answered.

It had been nearly a week since the accidental bath incident involving Alec and Thomas which had ended up in Thomas getting the flu. Alec balled up his fists he knew it was his fault that Thomas was sick.

"Jimmy!" Mrs Patmore yelled while half running out of the kitchen. "I need you to get this tray up to Thomas" Mrs Patmore put the tray of assorted sandwiches on the dining hall table.

Jimmy sighed slowly pushing his chair back and walking over to collect the tray.

"Well come on! we don't have all year!" Mrs Patmore hurried back into the kitchen to continue preparing tomorrows desserts.

Jimmy reluctantly grabbed the tray and stomped out the door Alec watched Jimmy leave he had never wanted to be a footman more in his life during this last week, he had gotten no chance to see Thomas lately ever since Doctor Clarkson put Thomas' illness down to contagious Carson forbade any general visits.

Thomas heard his door open and turned around to see a sulky looking Jimmy who was standing at the doorway with another tray of food Thomas smiled nicely and sat up.

"Thank you Jimmy" said Thomas .

Jimmy nodded and murmured something under his breath he put the tray on Thomas' bedside table before turning to leave.

"..Jimmy" Thomas almost whispered.

Jimmy stopped in his place and turned around to face Thomas "What is it?".

"Have you..spoken to Alec lately?" Thomas asked.

"Yes" Jimmy answered plainly.

"How is he?" Thomas' words escaped his mouth more hurriedly than he had expected them too.

"Fine...why?" Jimmy squinted his eyes staring at Thomas curiously.

"Just wondering, he's my friend after all" Thomas grabbed a handkerchief from beside him and wiped his nose.

Jimmy huffed and walked over to Thomas stopping a few metres away making sure he kept a comfortable distance between them.

"And how well does he know you Thomas? Does he what you did to me?" Jimmy questioned his voice straining.

Thomas swallowed "Well actually yes I told him everything"

Jimmy gasped looking up to Thomas with a horrified expression "Everything? ..And!?"

"He didn't seem to care" Thomas responded as calmly as he could manage.

"Surely you're joking?" Jimmy snarled.

Thomas just shook his head grabbing the tray from the table

"He-" Thomas looked back up but Jimmy had already gone, sighing deeply he put the tray back onto the bedside table suddenly he didn't feel hungry anymore.

Alec finished dinner once again, without Thomas. He picked up his plate and put it in the kitchen making sure he thanked Mrs Patmore, Daisy and Ivy for his meal.

"You know you don't have to thank us every single time you eat something Alec?" Daisy explained.

"Sssh Daisy he can thank us whenever he pleases " Ivy smiled looking Alec up and down once again. Alec wondered what she could possibly be looking for she's looked at him so many times she surely must have seen everything by now.

Alec smiled politely before leaving, he went up to his bedroom glancing at Thomas' door briefly before noticing Carson walking into the quarters. He continued to his own room pulling out some of Jimmy's clothes to sleep in after he had bathed. Jimmy had happily loaned Alec some of his clothes after Alfred told him about the lack of clothing Alec had brought with him.

Alec lay in the bath, and just like the last few times he had bathed this week all he could think about was Thomas and how much he'd rather be in the bath with Thomas, he sighed realising how much he missed him.

Pulling out the plug Alec got changed quickly drying his hair off just the tiniest bit. he decided he was going to visit Thomas no matter what it took.

Alec knocked on Thomas door with caution, keeping his knocks quiet so Carson wouldn't wake up he opened the door slowly seeing Thomas sitting up in his bed watching Alec enter. Thomas face lit up as soon as he walked in.

Alec pulled the chair in Thomas' room to the side of Thomas' bed and sat down.

"Hello stranger" Alec joked grinning at Thomas.

"I'm sorry, what's your name again?" Thomas asked trying desperately not to break his serious expression but failed when Alec got off the chair joined Thomas on the bed.

"Oh..Mr Barrow, how rude" Alec scoffed with sarcasm as he twisted his fingers in the strings of Thomas' shirt.

Thomas' expression was now a mix of surprise and desire."I've missed you"

Alec made eye contact with Thomas, there were dark bags under his red puffy eyes, his hair was a scraggily mess upon his head and his skin paler than usual except for his nose which was bright red. 'How does he manage to look so handsome even when he's as sick as a dog?" Alec thought.

"Sorry about my appearance" Thomas laughed but his expression was writhing with insecurity.

"Oh please" Alec rolled his eyes dramatically as he leaned in for a kiss but to his surprise Thomas pulled back.

Alec's cheeks reddened at the rejection.

"I just don't want you to get sick Alec" Thomas' expression was cold.

"I'll be fine" Alec smiled warmly and went to kiss Thomas again.

Thomas turned away "Seriously Alec don't".

Alec stood up from the bed "I'm sorry" The embarrassment was evident in Alec's face. Thomas knew he had hurt him but it was for the best, he felt like he needed to protect Alec even if it was from something as insignificant as the flu.

"I'll leave..I'm sorry..I hope you're well soon" Alec muttered before leaving.

Alec went straight to his bedroom slamming the door behind him and began pacing around the room.

'stupid'

Alec remembered the last time this happened, the last time he tried to kiss someone who didn't want to kiss him back, he traced a shaking finger along the jagged scar on his arm, his breathing was ragged as he dropped to his knees.

'Stupid..so..stupid'

It was like he could feel his hands on him again, strangling him, pushing his face into the floor, breaking his arm. Alec let out a strained sob slapping his hand across his mouth to stop it anymore from coming out, hunching over he couldn't contain it anymore he sobbed into his hand remembering the feeling of the man's hands twisting his arm until it broke. he had been so good at forgetting until now. Alec could hear faint sounds coming from behind him he opened his eyes and saw the ray of light coming from his open door and turned his head towards the figure coming into the room.

"Alec?" Jimmy whispered.

'Shit' he thought.

Alec didn't bother getting up it was too late now instead he got off his knees and just sat on the floor wrapping his arms around his knees. Jimmy approached slowly and knelt down in front of Alec.

"Did something happen?" Jimmy stared at Alec sympathetically . Alec could tell just by Jimmy's face that he knew this feeling.

"It's a long story" Alec murmured.

Jimmy repositioned himself to sit next to Alec wrapping an arm around Alec's shoulder to draw him in closer, Alec accepted the gesture after all he needed the comfort. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to" Jimmy swallowed "But I'm here if you need to talk".

Alec sighed deeply leaning his head on Jimmy's shoulder "Thank you".

"Think nothing of it, I've been where you are before" Jimmy spoke softly "When both my parents died, I felt like I'd never be happy again".

Alec looked up to Jimmy "I'm so sorry".

Jimmy just shook his head "It was a while ago, don't worry about it" He smiled "Your hairs soaking wet by the way".

Alec pulled his head back and inspected Jimmy's wet shirt "Oh god, I didn't mean-"

"Again, don't worry about it" Jimmy chuckled ruffling his hand through Alec's wet hair. Alec laughed in response playfully swatting Jimmy's hand away.

"We should get you dried up" Jimmy jumped up and picked Alec's towel off the floor, Alec watched him curiously as Jimmy strode back over to Alec who was still on the floor.

Jimmy held out his hand and Alec took it pulling him off the ground with one swift pull. Alec gasped, Jimmy was much stronger than he expected.

Jimmy looked at Alec and grinned.

"What are you grinning about?" asked Alec.

"You looked impressed is all.. does my strength impress you Alec?" Jimmy asked sarcastically unable to hide his amusement.

Alec chuckled shaking his head as he yanked the towel out of Jimmy's hand "Thank you".

"No problem" Jimmy moved closer his expression now empathetic "Will you be okay? I can stay if you need me?"

"I'll be fine" Alec smiled warmly at back at Jimmy.

Jimmy stared back not quite convinced he pulled Alec into an embrace, they had never hugged before but it felt natural, Alec felt safe. Jimmy patted him on the back before releasing him.

"Goodnight Alec" Jimmy patted him once more on the shoulder as he left.

The next few days flew by Alec spent most of his spare time with Jimmy and Alfred although listening to Alfred's constant and horribly boring confessions of love to Ivy was beginning to get on his nerves, he glanced over to Jimmy and saw the same feelings being reflected on his face. Jimmy caught Alec glancing at him and looked back rolling his eyes and making hand gestures that insinuated he wanted to be shot in the face.

Alec snorted trying to contain his laughter but when Jimmy began pretending to tie an imaginary noose around his neck Alec lost it.

"E-excuse me Alfred" Alec was choking with laughter as he ran out of the room to prevent further humiliation. He heard the door slam behind him and Jimmy sniggering while running up to him. Alec pushed the door open and leaned on the wall outside still laughing.

"Jesus Christ! he really likes that Ivy doesn't he?" Alec chuckled looking over at Jimmy who was leaning against the wall next to him.

"Poor Alfred, he really has no idea how much we don't care" Jimmy shook his head still giggling.

"We're horrible friends" Alec muttered.

"We're not the horrible ones here Alec, he's the one torturing us with details of his almost non-existent love life" he scoffed "And with Ivy" Jimmy made gagging noises.

"Not a fan of Ivy, Jimmy?" Alec asked curiously.

"Alright look, I don't dislike either of them but..well.. the thought of them being all.. 'lovey dovey' around each other makes me feel like drowning myself" stated Jimmy pursing his lips.

"Oh my God!" Alec burst into fits of laughter again.

"See! and I'm not the only one, look at you!" Jimmy chuckled then sighed for a moment he even looked troubled.

"Alec, we should go out sometime without Alfred maybe to a pub or something"

Alec stopped laughing. "Really? you'd want to go to a pub with me?.

"Well yes, I wouldn't have asked otherwise..I have a few hours off tonight and you usually finish around 6 right? Jimmy asked staring hopefully at Alec.

"Um yeah, I do" Alec replied surprised.

"Great! tonight after dinner it is then" Jimmy grinned.

Alec was a little caught off guard by Jimmy's forwardness. "Um..alright I suppose that'll be fun"

"Of course it will be" Jimmy winked before opening the door to head back inside "See you at dinner!"

Alec stood there in awe for a moment, he's never been asked to go to a pub before, he smiled to himself before heading back to the hunting grounds.

Thomas slicked the last stray hair down with his pomade he was finally fully recovered, he looked in the mirror his nose was no longer red, his eyes had shrunk back to their normal size and had no traces of red left in them. It felt like a lifetime since he had been able to work, his immune system is not what it used to be he looked over to his smokes guiltily.

He continued down the stairs to the servants hall for dinner.

Alec was already seated beside Jimmy chatting about the pub he was being taken to tonight until out of the corner of his eye Alec saw Thomas walk into the dining room. Jimmy's voice suddenly became faded unintelligible chatter in the background. Alec studied Thomas who looked much better 'Could he have possibly gotten more handsome than he was before he got sick?' Alec thought.

Alec couldn't help but smile dumbly at Thomas' appearance in the servants hall looking even more beautiful than usual. Thomas noticed Alec and gave him a wink when he saw the smile on Alec's face.

Alec smile widened even more as he gestured his head to the seat next to him.

"Hi" is all that slipped out of Alec's mouth as he examined Thomas taking a seat next him.

"Hi" Thomas chuckled keeping his eyes on Alec's.

"You look..well" Alec unintentionally licked his top lip.

A faint flush appeared on Thomas' cheeks when he realised Alec meant a lot more than just 'well' with his tongue gesture.

"Alec are you ready to head off?" Jimmy asked loudly as an attempt to regain Alec's attention.

"Oh..oh um" Alec looked over to Jimmy "Yeah, yes sure".

"Good, come on" Jimmy stood up grabbing his coat from the back of the chair.

"Jimmy asked me to go to pub with him..I'll be back later okay" Alec reluctantly stood up forcing his eyes to peel away from Thomas.

Thomas nodded "Have fun" Thomas watched Alec follow Jimmy out the door with his best attempt at pretending he didn't mind.

"It's right on the edge of town, we can just walk it'll take us maybe 10 minutes" Jimmy stated smiling at Alec.

"Sure that's fine with me" Alec replied yawning.

Jimmy took note of Alec's yawn "And don't worry I'll get you back early so you don't fall asleep on me".

"Oh..god ..no I'm sorry, I-I won't fall asleep I promise." Alec replied apologetically.

"I was kidding Alec" Jimmy glanced at over at Alec's apologetic face and put an arm around his shoulder "Relax okay?".

Alec nodded keeping his eyes straight forward, he could see the lights of the pub it was only a couple hundred metres away now.

"Alright here it is, come on" Jimmy patted Alec on the back and walked inside beckoning at him to follow.

Alec was about to head inside when he heard some rustling in the bushes beside at the entrance of the pub, he glared at the bushes ' an animal maybe?' he thought.

_"Is that him?"_

Alec definitely heard a voice, it was barely a whisper but he knew he heard it.

"_The queer one?" _

Alec spun around looking for the people he could hear whispering but could see no one. He swallowed hard, his breathing getting shallower by the second.

"Alec?" Jimmy walked back outside "Come on"

Alec glanced around before walking inside with Jimmy.

"Alright I'm buying you a drink, sit down" Jimmy lead Alec to a table with two seats next to the window before buying some drinks and joining Alec.

"Thank you" said Alec taking the beer and checking out his surroundings, it was a quaint wooden pub with a large fireplace on the other side of the room.

Jimmy took a sip of his drink before downing the whole thing without taking a breath.

"Whoa" Alec said a little too loudly his expression full of surprise.

Jimmy had an over-confident smile on his face "Oh that's nothing" he made eye contact with the bartender and held up 4 fingers gesturing his head towards the empty beer pot.

Alec raised his eyebrows while taking a small sip of his own drink, he'd never been much of a drinker he always hated the taste.

The bartender came over with another 4 large draughts and Jimmy handed over money.

"See if you can beat me, you ready?" said Jimmy holding another draught to his lips at the ready.

" I guess" said Alec uncomfortably.

Jimmy smiled back deviously "1, 2, 3".

Jimmy was already half way through by the time Alec got the drink to his mouth.

"Poor effort Scudder" said Jimmy slamming his glass to the table before picking up another one and starting on it.

"Jimmy..you might want to slow down-" Alec started but stopped when Jimmy held his hand up gesturing him to stop speaking.

Alec sighed looking around the room making eye contact with a large, angry looking bald man by the bar who was glaring back at him. Alec turned his attention back to Jimmy who had just slammed down another glass to the table making Alec jump.

"So I've got something to talk to you about" Jimmy exclaimed tracing his finger around the rim of the untouched draught in front of him.

"Anything" replied Alec smiling.

"Mr Barrow told me that you.. know some...things" Jimmy grimaced grabbing hold of the drink in front of him and downing it like the rest.

Alec looked confused "What things?" .

"Disturbing things" Jimmy's expression changed to anger.

"What do you mean?" Alec was beginning to get concerned now.

"He told me..that he told you about.." Jimmy exhaled sharply reaching for the last beer of his on the table. Alec's arm shot out and grabbed hold of Jimmy's wrist before he realised what he was doing.

"Jimmy stop, you really need to slow down" ordered Alec.

Jimmy's nostril's flared as he yanked his arm away spilling some of his drink in the process.

"Don't you tell me what to do Scudder" Jimmy spat "It's not like you bloody care anyway!"

"Jimmy what are you talking about? you're being ridiculous" Alec spoke loudly.

"If you really cared for me you would have punched Barrow out for what he did!" Jimmy took a few large gulps of his beer "You know what he did but you didn't care?!"

Alec's eyes widened he knew Jimmy was talking about the kiss Thomas gave him in his sleep.

"How the hell could you just not care about him bloody harassing me" yelled Jimmy.

"Jimmy I don't think this is an appropriate location to be discussing this" Alec said looking worriedly up to Jimmy.

"I'll talk wherever I bloody like" Jimmy looked lost in thought for a moment before gasping and looking back at Alec "Unless..you liked what he did..unless you're like him".

Alec eyes shot to the table "Jimmy stop it" his voice was a barely a whisper.

"You are aren't you?..you're a bloody queer" Jimmy slurred.

Alec stood up glaring at Jimmy "You're a real bastard Jimmy" Alec left the table taking note of the amount of people staring at him. He stalked out of the pub angrily walking in the direction of Downton.

Alec huffed crossing his arms and continuing on his way to Downton

"_Scudder" _

Alec spun around looking behind him, he heard someone calling his name, he was positive. Everything was quiet for a few seconds before he heard the sound of running behind him.

Alec felt something hit him hard in the back of the head causing him to fall to the ground his head throbbing.

"I knew it was you" the man said kicking Alec hard in the chest.

Alec gasped and sputtered he could feel the air escaping his lungs and not returning.

the second and third man kept kicking him in the back and stomach as Alec cried out in pain trying to drag himself forward but the first man was now standing near Alec's head laughing before slamming a plank so hard onto Alec's forehead that he almost lost consciousness.

He lay there covered in and blood gasping for air. The first man walked back around to Alec's side and slammed the baton into his chest Alec choked and screamed holding his arm around his chest the pain was excruciating.

"Shit" Alec heard one of them mutter.

A car was nearing, Alec could tell by the noise.

He heard faint sounds of his attackers arguing before running away, the car whooshed past him and Alec was left alone on the side of the road.

He had been beaten before but never like this. Alec let out a choking sob clutching his body he knew he had to get back to Downton quickly in case they came decided to come back and finish him off.

His breathing was still erratic from when the air was kicked out of him, he could feel the warm blood pouring heavily down on his face. He eventually was able to get to his feet although his legs were straining and his knee was aching from the kick directly to it.

Things became more terrifying when he heard rustling around him he tried to run but his legs buckled and he fell to the ground again sputtering and coughed while glancing around to see if anyone was around before he pulled himself to his feet and started walking again.

The pain was becoming unbearable now, he kept stumbling and losing his balance. He could see Downton in the distance and fought through the pain and dizziness.

The blood was still pouring down his forehead he could feel it dripping into his eyes and could taste it in his mouth. he had no idea how much he was actually losing but he was getting extremely woozy.

He made it to the door of Downton smiling to himself he reached for the door knob but completely missed it, everything was becoming blurry as he held himself up on the door and tried reaching for the door knob again only this time he was successful.

He stumbled in through the door nearly falling over when he tried looking at the ground everything was moving around him the floorboards looked like they were shaking underneath his feet.

He needed to find Thomas 'Thomas will look after me' he thought as he staggered into the servants dining hall.

Ivy screamed when she caught sight of Alec and suddenly every ones attention was on him he could vaguely hear people yelling around him he tried to take a step forward but his knees buckled and he hit the floor agonizingly hard. His vision was so blurred at this point he could barely make out anyone's faces, his breathing was faint and he was having major difficulty controlling his consciousness.

"Ring Doctor Clarkson now, hurry!" A woman ordered .

"Get the first aid!" Another one ordered.

Alfred sprinted over to Alec "Oh God..Alec".

The last thing Alec saw was what looked like Thomas on the other side of the room looking at him with a horrified expression.

Thomas dropped the teacup he was holding in his hands with a crash as ran over to Alec.

" Jesus!" cried Thomas as he picked up Alec's limp body and cradled him "Can you hear me Alec?!" Alec wanted to reply but he couldn't find the strength to he could feel his eyes rolling back into his head and after that everything went black.

**A/N Soooo sorry for the late update guys I know it's been a while. **

**Hope you liked this chapter although chances are you didn't but don't worry things can only get better from here.**

**Next update shouldn't be too far away, please leave reviews or PM me if you can it's the only thing that keeps me motivated to write this.**

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	11. Chapter 11

**The Boy and Mr Barrow**

**by: alternativebrooke**

**WARNING: Downton Abbey series 1-3 spoilers, violence and M/M**

_"Good evening Lord Wyatt " Alec walked in from the yard, stopping in the hallway when he saw him, he was always careful to be polite when in the presence of the owner of the estate. He knew that if he were to upset Lord Wyatt he would be punished and unfortunately Lord Wyatt was the kind of person to become easily upset. The tall sandy-blonde haired man looked Alec over tilting his head to the side and clenching his fist ever so slightly, Alec knew what it meant when Lord Wyatt did that. "Scudder" He said exhaling loudly and slowly in a way that made Alec's skin crawl. "I expect I'll see you tonight" Lord Wyatt grinned, but not in a kind way, the way his thin lips curled up made everything he said or did look sinister. Alec nodded and walked down the hall only to bump into Lord Wyatt's valet who shoved him backwards. "Sorry" Alec stuttered trying to move out of the way but the valet kept moving in front of him and laughing as he pushed Alec again. Alec stumbled letting out a huffed breath as he turned around and hastily made his way back outside to the yard where he would take the long way around the estate to get back to his room. _

Thomas sat on a chair next to Alec's bed watching the slow rise and fall of Alec's chest and praying with all the faith he had left that Alec would wake up again.

Doctor Clarkson hadn't arrived yet but Thomas had already carried Alec up to his bed and stitched up the gashes on his head. The gash on his forehead was the worst it was deep and stretched an inch and a half just below his hairline.

"In here Doctor Clarkson" Carson informed while opening the door to Alec's room. Thomas stood up immediately.

Doctor Clarkson stepped in and moved quickly to Alec's bedside.

"Mr Barrow I'm assuming you stitched him up?" asked Clarkson as he examined the head wounds.

"Yes Doctor Clarkson" Thomas replied coldly.

"Hmm, yes well he's definitely had multiple bashes to his head with a blunt weapon of some sort. Have you examined the rest of his body yet?" Clarkson looked over Alec's still fully clothed body.

"No, I haven't" Thomas looked down to the floor.

"Right" Clarkson began removing Alec's clothing which earned a grimace from Thomas.

There were red marks all over Alec's chest and stomach some of which were already developing a bluish bruised tinge, his legs were the same although he had a particularly large area on his right leg and upper body, Doctor Clarkson bent over to closely study Alec's chest.

" It looks like he'll have a fair few cases of bruising to the bone, especially on his sternum and patella, maybe even some fractured ribs and a definite concussion but I can't be sure until he wakes up..how long has he been unconscious for?" Clarkson asked.

"Nearly an hour" Thomas replied quickly.

Clarkson nodded in response.

"Will he be okay Doctor Clarkson?' Thomas spoke eagerly awaiting an answer.

"I'm not sure Mr Barrow I'll know more when he's awake" Clarkson's voice was low as he looked back up to Alec's almost unrecognisable beaten face "If he wakes up that is".

Thomas fought off the sudden urge to be sick "What do you mean...if?"

"Mr Barrow you know exactly what I mean, we will be able to distinguish the severity of his head injury when he awakens...or if he does not" Clarkson's voice was formal and slightly irritated.

"I'll give him a shot of morphine now so he won't be in pain if he wakes up in the next few hours" Clarkson held onto Alec's arm and injected the pain reliever "It'll wear off in a few hours so you may need to inject him again after he's woken up I'll leave a few more doses here" Clarkson put the doses on Alec's bedside table

" You'll need to inject a dose whenever the pain comes back and trust me he will need it these sorts of injuries can be excruciating without any kind of pain relief. Now I'll be back in the morning hopefully he'll be awake by then." Clarkson nodded and went to leave the room.

"Yes Doctor Clarkson, thank you very much for coming down" said Carson as he shut the door behind Clarkson.

"Do you have any idea who might have done this Thomas?"

"No, I don't" Thomas replied glumly.

Carson sighed "We should go downstairs anyway".

"I think I'll stay here actually, just so there's someone here when he wakes up" Thomas tried sounding as professional as possible.

Carson looked at Thomas strangely for a moment as if he were having an internal battle with himself about what to reply, Carson's eyes glanced over Alec and then back to Thomas "Very well Mr Barrow" He said in an unsure voice and then he was gone.

Thomas sat back down on the chair next to Alec's bed hoping that something, anything would happen.

_The clock struck 11. It was time for Alec to go to Lord Wyatt's room. He swallowed hard, leaning against the owners door for a moment before he opened it. Lord Wyatt was already naked and on his bed, his valet walked over to the door and grabbed Alec by the arm yanking him aggressively over to the bed even though Alec was not fighting him. He knew it was the only way, if he didn't do this Lord Wyatt would fire him or kill him. The valet ripped off Alec's coat, followed by his shirt, he had ruined most of Alec's clothes and soon he'd have none left. He wished he could go to back to his previous employers, the Durham's seemed like saints now. He wished he'd never gone to Europe where his plans of employment fell through. The valet grabbed Alec by the hair and threw him towards the bed, making sure he hit the post of the bed before falling into the grasp of the man who had destroyed him._

It had been hours since Doctor Clarkson left and Thomas was now smoking by Alec's window.

Alec jolted awake with a loud choking gasp as if he had been strangled in his sleep he clutched at the bed his face was completely flustered and beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, His vision was blurred causing him to panic even more from the corner of his eye he saw a figure make its way quickly to his bedside. Alec tried moving away but was overwhelmed with dizziness and his head once again hit the pillow. His breathing was shallow and painful as his vision slowly returned to normal. He blinked away the tears and then dared to look up at the figure again.

"Alec!" Thomas anxiously hovered over the bed.

Alec didn't reply he just stared at Thomas as if they had never met.

it's me..it's Thomas" .

Alec he still hadn't said a word. This scared Thomas more than anything in the world, '_Does he know who I am?..please god let him know who I am' _Thomas thought.

'Alec ..Alec please talk to me"

No response.

"Alec please, I need to know if you're alright..I'm begging you" Thomas reached out to touch Alec's face but pulled back quickly when Alec flinched away from him. That hurt more than anything, it hurt more than what the Duke had done to him, or Edward.. even Jimmy's rejection. Not Alec, not him too.

He looked at Alec and he saw it. Alec wasn't the same anymore. The beautiful boy who was always so full of life was no longer there. Alec now looked as if he had no trace of happiness left in him. He was a shell of his former self all that was left was a bruised and broken sobbing mess.

Thomas stood back, making his way back to the window, allowing Alec the space he needed and watched in utter horror for the next 20 minutes as Alec cried violently knowing he could not a thing about it. He couldn't go near Alec if Alec didn't want to be touched, he knew how that ended.

Eventually the sobs lessened and Alec's breathing started returning back to normal, Thomas hadn't taken an eye off Alec since he awoke. The bed covers ruffled a little as Alec turned his face over to Thomas by the window, flinching a little at the pain of the movement. Alec studied Thomas's unsettled and terrified expression and he began to feel even worse than before, if that was even possible.

"I'm sorry Thomas" Alec said, his voice straining from the crying.

Thomas eyes widened when he realised Alec had used his name, but he still kept his ground by the window.

"Please come back here" Alec's lip trembled as he pleaded.

Thomas walked over cautiously and sat down on the bed, reaching his hand out much slower this time and began stroking Alec's hair. Alec studied Thomas. His skin, his lips, his eyes god did he love his eyes. Alec smiled involuntarily, It was as if Thomas was his cure because the longer Alec studied him the further the memories of Wyatt buried themselves into the darkest part of his mind. As long as he could stare at Thomas and touch him he would always be fine.

He clutched desperately at Thomas' arm, pulling him down and burying his face into Thomas' chest, which was another part of Thomas that he loved inexplicably.

"You're safe now " Thomas reassured wrapping an arm around Alec and Alec gripped onto Thomas as if he'd never let him go. They lay there silently for a while comforting each other with gestures rather than words. Eventually Alec tilted his head to look at Thomas his face still resting on Thomas' chest.

"I was sure I had gone to hell' Alec stated.

"Well you didn't, and you're okay now" Thomas swept a tendril of hair off Alec's face. "What happened?"

Alec swallowed, the pained expression returning to his face. "I was attacked on my way back here" Alec suddenly realised when trying to recall the memory how much his head was throbbing.

"Did you know them? did they steal anything?" Thomas questioned worriedly.

"I couldn't see anything it was too dark and no they just..attacked me." Alec shuddered at the thought. and Thomas gripped him a little tighter.

"Where was Jimmy when this happened?" Thomas asked, watching Alec with concern.

Alec sighed "Probably at the pub, I was angry at him so left by myself"

"Why were you angry? did he do something to you?" said Thomas protectively.

Alec looked down at Thomas' chest "..It's not important"

"Alec it's important to me if he hurt you" Thomas caught Alec's gaze again

"He just..he got a little drunk and he started yelling at me for not being mad at you because of the kiss and then he started making a scene and calling you and I queer.. so I left" Alec said sighing.

Thomas huffed angrily and dug his fingers into his temples. "You don't need that..not you"

"Thomas it's-" Alec started speaking but his voice trailed off when the throbbing in his head became much worse, Alec suddenly felt nauseous, he shut his eyes tightly and groaned.

"Alec what's wrong?" Thomas asked

"M-my head, Thomas I can't even think.. it's my head"

Thomas remembered what Clarkson said, it was the morphine, it must have worn off. Thomas gently moved Alec off of him and grabbed the morphine.

Jimmy walked home from the pub, he hadn't had anything else to drink since Alec left and was now regretting what he had said more every second.

Jimmy entered the servants dining hall and was faced with the whole staffs prying eyes.

"Where've you been?" Alfred asked.

"Out, why wha-?" at that moment Jimmy caught sight of the blood stain on the floor.

'What the hell happened to Alec? he went out with you didn't he?" Alfred asked more sternly this time, a tone Jimmy had not heard since he had met Alfred.

"What do you mean?" Jimmy panicked.

"He's been beaten half to death, attacked by the looks of it" Alfred said sadly.

Jimmy face fell "what?"

"Beaten to a bloody pulp, you should've seen him his whole face was covered in blood, and his eyes kept rolling back into his head It was terrifying" Ivy explained from a few metres away.

Jimmy inhaled sharply "Is he okay?" .

"We don't know, but it didn't look good" Alfred looked grimly to the floor where the blood stain was.

"Where is he?" Jimmy dared to ask.

"His room" Ivy answered.

Before another word was said Jimmy darted up the stairs, he noticed there were blood splatters on the staircase and in the hallway which made his stomach heave. Once he got to Alec's door he yanked it open firstly noticing Alec's blood covered bed sheets and then turned his attention to Thomas who was striding towards him quickly.

"Get out!" Thomas shouted stopping barely a metre from Jimmy, his nostrils flaring.

"I need t-" Jimmy stammered, for the first time he was intimidated by Thomas.

"I won't tell you again" Thomas warned.

Jimmy looked over to Alec who looked to be writhing in pain on the bed his face was covered in gashes and bruises.

"Alec I-" Jimmy went to push past Thomas but was shoved back "You don't deserve to talk to him, I know what you bloody said Jimmy about him and about me." Thomas spat.

Jimmy didn't fight the shove, he accepted it as if he knew he deserved it. He felt sick now, physically sick with guilt.

Alec tried to get up quickly to see what was going on but the pain that shot through his chest forced him back down with an agonising cry, Thomas looked at Jimmy for a second before moving quickly back to Alec's side lowering his whole body back onto the bed, Alec groaned clutching Thomas' upper arm.

"I'll give you something for the pain" Thomas soothed showing Alec the morphine Doctor Clarkson left for him "I'm going to have to inject you, is that okay?

Alec nodded breathing heavily.

Thomas took hold of Alec arms, pushing the needle in as gently as possible, Alec stirred slightly and closed his eyes waiting for the medicine to take effect.

Thomas knew it had started working when Alec's grip loosened on his arm, Thomas rubbed his face with his hand and sighed before looking back over to Jimmy who was staring in horror by the door.

Jimmy looked to the ground and exhaled loudly before shutting the door and going back to his own room.

"Thomas?" Alec murmured breathlessly.

"Yes, Do you need anything?" Thomas asked.

Alec gestured his head at the bed and smiled dazedly, Thomas could see the injection had taken affect, He chuckled at Alec's calm and groggy persona.

Thomas sat down on the bed "Alec?" he whispered.

"Mmm" Alec replied tiredly.

"I'm sorry about Jimmy calling you what he did..if it wasn't for me he wouldn't of said it" said Thomas guiltily.

"I don't care about being called a queer Thomas" Alec mumbled.

"What? why?" Thomas asked, he had been caught off guard.

"Well think about it Thomas.. if I'm queer it means I get to have you.. and who wouldn't want to have you?"

Thomas leaned back, his facial expression in utter awe. had_ did he really say that?._ It was as if every response Thomas thought of was not enough to match the statement Alec had just made to him, _or was it a statement? it sounded more like a confession.' Thomas thought. _

Alec looked up "Thomas?"

Thomas blinked a few times and looked around the room as if he was waking himself up from a beautiful dream, although this wasn't a dream, this was real.

"Did I just embarrass myself with that?" Alec said, his tired eyes looking at Thomas with worry.

Thomas shook his head and chuckled as he leaned down and kissed Alec on the mouth, it had been far too long since their lips last touched that they had almost forgotten how good it felt, Thomas pulled back and leaned his forehead on Alec's, they breathed together, smiling in between kisses and in that moment they were both perfectly queer and both perfectly happy to be so.

**A/N: Yes I know.. how cheesy ha-ha :) I thought I'd end this chapter on a cuter note than the previous one. Be sure to leave reviews if you can! They're greatly appreciated and they're a great motivator for me to continue writing this fic!**

**ps: I wasn't really sure about the whole morphine thing, I did research it but there wasn't much on the usage of morphine in the 20's ha-ha so hopefully it made sense.**

**THANKS SO MUCH FOR READING! **


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